Faced with the constant cases of burning of grasslands that are recorded during the dry season in the country, the Electricity Transmission Company, SA (Etesa) and the Meritorious Fire Department of the Republic of Panama (BCBRP) have launched the campaign “Do not to burning”, with the purpose of preventing the burning of grasslands.
Figures from the Panama Fire Department indicate that this year these incidents exceed 600 cases, last year there were 3,026 grassland burning events attended by the institution.
For Etesa, the importance of joining forces with the Meritorious Fire Department lies in the fact that many of these grass burning practices occur in adjacent areas and even very close to electricity transmission towers, which represents a risk to the power transmission system.
In addition, the burning of grasslands is a crime punishable by Panamanian legislation, whose consequences affect the forest ecosystem, so along with the recommendations to prevent it, it must be reported to the Panama Fire Department through line 103 and immediately denounced before the competent authorities, such as the Justices of the Peace and the National Police.
The most frequent causes of these cases of burning grasslands are: burning garbage inside the grasslands, uncontrolled burning to clean up lots, improvising bonfires in wooded areas or close to electric power transmission systems, hunting animals and the bad disposition of aerosols.
As part of this campaign, Etesa and the BCBRP recommend the following preventive measures to the public:
**Avoid burning as a form of batch cleaning,
** Do not use fire for hunting animals,
** Do not smoke in wooded areas, or throw flammable objects in grassy and forest areas,
** Build guardarrayas as a precautionary measure in controlled burns and with the respective permits,
** Do not throw matches or lit cigarettes on the side of roads where there are fields and pastures
** Report this type of crime to avoid consequences that may affect the electric power transmission system.
