Civil Protection conducts exercise to test parish evacuation - Communication

Direção Regional do Ambiente e Ação Climática

The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action, through the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA), in partnership with the Angra do Heroísmo City Council and the Cinco Ribeiras Parish Council, will conduct the BASALTO 24.4 exercise on October 15 on Terceira Island to simulate the evacuation of the Cinco Ribeiras parish.

This exercise will simulate the need to evacuate the parish of Cinco Ribeiras, municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, in response to scientific information indicating signs of an eventual eruption of the Santa Bárbara Volcano in the context of the seismovolcanic crisis on Terceira Island.

It aims to put into practice the procedures and resources necessary for evacuation with the participation of the local population, the coordination and response of the organisations involved, and the arrival at the Population Concentration and Support Zones (ZCAP).

BASALTO 24.4 is part of the quarterly drills the SRPCBA conducts throughout the year. This time, it will take place in LIVEX (Live Exercise) mode, i.e. with the deployment of resources and operatives on the ground. For the first time, it will involve the direct participation of the population. 

On October 9, as part of the preparations for this exercise, an information and awareness-raising session was held to invite the inhabitants of Cinco Ribeiras to take part in the initiative and explain the procedures they should adopt during the simulated scenario.

In addition to the SRPCBA, under the administration of Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action, the Angra do Heroísmo City Council and the Cinco Ribeiras Parish Council, the BASALTO 24. 4 exercise will also include the participation of the Praia da Vitória City Council, the Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória Fire Brigades, the Regional Directorate for Health, the Regional Directorate for Public Works, the Portuguese Red Cross, the Public Security Police, the National Republican Guard, the Angra Port Authority and the Institute for Social Security of the Azores.