And for this reason we have had this technical meeting today with the participation of all the ministries involved along with the services that provide us with technical support for decision-making. We want to say that in matters of fire prevention, on this occasion, for the first time a couple of months ago, a supreme decree was issued, signed by the President of the Republic, to allow controlled burns to clear weeds and thus prevent the presence of this type of material in the summer. There is fuel available, isn't there?, for these fire hotspots. Therefore, that is an important piece of information and a preventative measure. Secondly, the president has arranged for the hiring of approximately 10,000 people through CONAF for weed removal, primarily in urban and rural border areas, in order to prevent future fire outbreaks. We have also analyzed combat routes for this type of equipment, defining sensitive locations where special attention must be paid and where, in due course according to the conditions that arise, this type of equipment will be moved. Ultimately, what we want to convey to the public is that for our government, prevention is what matters most. That means, just as we did, to face the contingencies of winter, being able to anticipate resources, being able to mobilize people in humanitarian aid and in some other way respond immediately when these emergencies arise in a coordinated, planned, organized manner and avoid improvisation. which cause a lot of damage in emergency situations . So it's been a pretty positive meeting. We have taken on some tasks in the ministries to complement what we have discussed today, but fundamentally, we want to reiterate and point out that we are facing a complex summer that will not be easy, but we are also reassured that we are addressing these potential situations. with a deep sense of responsibility, with due anticipation and with the appropriate planning. Thank you very much, director. Good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. As the minister already stated , the purpose of this national meeting was to learn about all the preparation work being done to anticipate the upcoming summer that we will face. This summer has particular conditions. As you know, we have been reporting, and each of the media outlets has also been reporting, on the presence of the El Niño phenomenon in our country, which brings with it a series of increases in conditions that are normally normal during the summer period, but which could increase some of the threats that we are monitoring and working on in advance. This preparation began in August, while we were facing the different frontal systems, more than 30 institutions and organizations were already working on defining the different actions, plans and anticipation to be able to face the different conditions that were already detailed by Minister Alvarado regarding what we are seeing for the summer. Uh, they are different organizations that are uh throughout the country. We are looking ahead and anticipating potential forest fires, the extreme heat we could face mainly between December and March, potential harmful blooms in the southern zone, and also the high-altitude summer rainfall that usually affects the regions of Arica and Parinacota and Atacama during the summer period. Therefore, the whole country is coordinating, planning and anticipating in order to be able to address and prevent these situations from affecting people. And well, and from Senapred, I would like to make a special appeal to the public to join in this effort of preparation and collaboration. We can all do something to prevent certain emergencies from happening, particularly forest fires. There is a significant effort underway, involving a great deal of will, resources, and coordination across various organizations, and we want to call on the public to join this effort. Creating safer territories, preventing forest fires, and avoiding risky situations also depends on, and can be accompanied by, the collaboration of the public through very concrete actions— actions that may sometimes seem small but can make a difference in allowing us to face the summer period from December to March with the fewest possible emergencies. This way, we can continue to move forward in building cities, communities, and territories that are safer for people and where we can also protect our ecological and forest heritage in each of them. So, on behalf of the service, I would like to thank all the ministries, the ministers who have accompanied us, the undersecretaries, and the work that each of our regions and municipalities is doing to prepare for this summer period. Um, we're going to continue monitoring this situation, of course, reporting on it, and reinforcing this message, I insist, of preparation and anticipation so that we can face the summer period in the best possible conditions. Director, you mention that this coming summer will have particular conditions. This, coupled with the El Niño phenomenon, will increase threats. Could you specify what types of threats will be increased as a result? Yes. No, what I'm saying is that, according to information from our technical agencies, the summer conditions, accompanied by an increase in the consequences of climate change and the presence of the El Niño phenomenon, could potentially cause some threats that are common in summer to increase. Those are forest fires. Even though, and you have heard me say this many times, in our country 96.5% of fires are caused by human activity. There will be conditions, there could be conditions conducive to its spread. Therefore, we are there with a very detailed, very comprehensive plan to prepare for this situation. On the other hand, we have summer rainfall in the north, which are frontal systems that mainly affect the area between the Ariquiparinacota and Atacama regions, primarily the pre-Andean region. Every year we have a program called the summer rainfall program, where we work with the municipalities to identify critical points and implement mitigation measures to be prepared for potential rainfall above normal levels for that period. That is a second condition. The third condition is extreme heat. We have had episodes of heat or heat waves with significant temperatures, more than 34 degrees for 3 consecutive days, days with more than 40 degrees that worry us because of the impact they have on people. So, there is a third condition and a fourth condition that we are monitoring is associated with where the El Niño phenomenon has had a particular intensity; on some occasions, algal blooms, or more popularly known as red tide, have occurred, which are concentrated in the southern Bibia region. And we are monitoring it because it could be a condition that could arise this summer. As I said, we 're not saying this is going to happen. We are saying that we are preparing in response to a diagnosis provided by various technical agencies that these conditions could be present during this summer period, and for this reason, the obligation of this service and the agencies that make up SINAPRED is to anticipate, coordinate, and generate the necessary conditions to face emergency situations in the best possible way. Thank you, Director Vinistro. You just mentioned the hiring of 10,000 people through CONAF to cut weeds. When will this start? How will the areas where this type of work will be carried out be identified? You mentioned urban-rural boundary zones. Could you also specify what CONAF's work will entail for the summer season? Yes, that is a program that the Ministry of Agriculture is working on with CONAF. Well, according to historical records, some municipalities have been identified as being more critical in terms of the type of fires, and in those municipalities, support will be provided by this network of people who will allow us to improve prevention. It is a process, as I point out, that is under development. The hiring process will take place in the coming days and will begin that phase of work. This is a complementary effort to the one historically and traditionally made with the CONAF firefighters, precisely because we want to anticipate and prevent. Director, this is for you, please. This means perhaps that it rained more this winter, and that's why there is more vegetation that could dry out with the intense heat, and that there will eventually be extreme temperatures. Okay, what the meteorological directorate has projected is that, given this condition I mentioned earlier, it's projected that we could have a summer with above-normal temperatures, right? What we are looking at closely is this quarter, September, October, November, where in the central zone, that is to say between Coquimbo and the Araucanía region, south-central , there could still be above normal rainfall. And this, evidently, as you mention, brings some consequences that can be very positive, such as the increase in vegetation, which means that if temperatures start to rise rapidly, all that vegetation could eventually dry out and become fuel that could cause fires to spread more quickly. But I want to keep insisting that the fact that we have vegetation, or that it is available, and that there are high temperatures, does not necessarily mean that there will be forest fires because fires are generated by human intervention, right?, mainly by negligent behavior and also a percentage by intentionality. Therefore, the system is working to mitigate those underlying conditions that you mention regarding this fuel presence. The minister has already mentioned some of the actions we can take to anticipate this, but the important thing is that even if this were to happen and we could have high temperatures and conditions conducive to it, we can prevent fires from occurring if we all commit to not engaging in negligent behavior that causes them. Good morning. For the director of CONAP, regarding whether these municipalities that are more critical, these specific sectors, have been defined, could you tell us about it? Yes, the truth is that we work every year and throughout the year to determine the areas of greatest risk and it was determined that 90 communes are priorities. For this purpose, all the preventative plans have already been delivered to each municipality so that they can take action. And I take this opportunity to say that we are deploying preventative measures that have never been done in the country before, 10,000 people working with firewalls. However, each person is responsible for their own home. In the urban-rural interface zone , clearing pastures is absolutely necessary. It is necessary to keep the area clear and clean, avoid micro-vasses, and clean up any leaves or debris on the roof. Remember that fires bring lives, and as long as they find houses with available fuel, they will certainly find a place where the fire has food. Director, we are talking about 90 communes. Any examples? What are the main ones and the most critical ones as well? Yes, it's not just within the 90 communes in general; we have, for example, where we already had one of the terrible fires, which was the Trinitarias in the Biobío area, and Tomé continues to be a priority area for us. Quilp stores are generally distributed throughout the country. Coyipui too. Thank you.