The Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, informed this Thursday afternoon, the 12th, that he should send more National Force personnel to expand the fight against forest fires in Amazonas. A dense cloud of smoke has covered Manaus since Wednesday, 11th. The Federal Police reported having arrested two suspects for involvement in illegal burning near the state capital.
On Twitter, Dino announced that he had spoken with the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima. “In compliance with President Lula’s guidance, and in view of the request of the governor and the Amazonian federal bench, we will mobilize more National Force personnel to reinforce our teams that are already there fighting forest fires,” he wrote.
On Wednesday night, the government of Amazonas announced that it was requesting reinforcement from the Union. “I had a conversation with the Minister of the Environment asking for support in reinforcing this fight, both in terms of personnel and equipment. I called the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, so that he could make large aircraft available, because we have a very significant number of fires and, just by land, we are unable to do this”, stated Wilson Lima, according to a note released by the state management.
The objective of the request, according to the government, is also to reinforce the number of personnel from the Amazonas Fire Department (CBAM) already sent to the municipality of Autazes (113 kilometers from Manaus), “to contain the spread of fires in the region” . “Around 64 men from the Amazonas Military Police (PMAM), Amazonas Civil Police (PC-AM) and the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute (IPAAM) will work to combat environmental crimes in the municipality and the region.”
The Federal Police reported having arrested two men this Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in illegal burning. “The prisoners assumed that they had committed the same crime previously and were captured with chainsaws, gallons of gasoline and matches. The men were taken to the PF Regional Superintendence and then to a custody hearing, where they will remain at the disposal of the Court” , he detailed.
The PF said it had opened an investigation to verify the causes of the fires in the metropolitan region of Manaus. “Police teams are monitoring the region through geoprocessing systems, with the aim of investigating the practice of environmental crimes, especially at this time when Amazonas is facing a severe drought.”
