Fire-and-rescue services in Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus agree on closer border co-operation
Fire-and-rescue services in Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus agree on closer border co-operation
13 August 2013
published by www.lithuaniatribune.com
Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus — Representatives of fire-and-rescue services in Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus have signed a joint action plan that will facilitate co-operation of teams operating near the state border.
The co-operation act approves a plan of action that these countries would take in case of an emergency situation at the border, the Lithuanian Fire-and-Rescue Department told BNS.
Emergency situations can be different, for instance, a flood in the River Daugava. Belarus also has a number of oil and chemical plants, and all three countries have many peat-bogs, large forests, railway and automobile routes for transporting hazardous substances, Laura Valauskiene, spokeswoman for the department, told BNS.
A peat-bog in Didziasalis Forest caught fire back in 2002, there was an oil spill in the Daugava, and managing such situations alone is a rather difficult task. The plan is to allow us help each other in case of a major disaster, she continued.
According to Valauskiene, one of the instruments stipulated in the action plans is a facilitated visa regime for fire-and-rescue officers, should they have to cross the Belarusian border.
In February 2014, fire-and-rescue officers in the three countries will gather in the Latvian city of Kraslava for a joint tactical training, with the equipment purchased in the framework of the project.
