Esmeraldas's fire-extinguishers

The worry increases in these two weeks of Christmas and New Year. The number of fires and of attempts of fire that happen in the city of Emeralds has his beak in this month, especially in these two festivities.

 In 2005 there were 150 calls verified by alert of attempts and five by fires.

 The majority of they happened in October, November and principally December. In these months there were 100 attempts and four of five fires registered in the year. In them 10 persons died.

The fires were caused by short circuits in housings and for the evil I handle of small bedrooms, whistlers, petards and hints. In all the happened disasters, the goods of the harmed ones are destroyed of total form.

 According to Jose Vivero, commander of the Fire brigade of Emeralds, the fires begin as attempts, but they acquire big proportions for several external agents. The most important are the strong winds that they present in the season and especially the materials used in the construction.

The houses of Emeralds, as most of the Coast, are elaborated by materials of high combustion. Straw, palm, cane guadúa and other types of wood are the most secondhand.

 These materials, own of the zone, allow to cheapen the costs of the construction, but also they return more vulnerable to these buildings. According to a study of the Fire brigade of Emeralds, the flames destroy a house of wood, of a plant, between three and 10 minutes.

 David Solórzano, president of the College of Civil Engineers of Emeralds, assured that for these reasons, the trend in the use of materials of construction has changed in the last years.

Since norm we refuse to construct houses of wood. Now we look always for the reinforced concrete. This change began in 1998 when there was the fire of Refinery and all the houses of wood of the bank burned.
 But we face a problem that escapes of our hands. It is the topic of the invasions.

 The majority of the houses of these persons is of wood. There, the fires are constant, he said.

 Official numbers do not exist with relation to the number of housings that exist for invasions.

 Nevertheless, one of the institutions that devotes itself to deliver modular homes to persons of scanty resources facilitated a statistical sample of this reality.

The Foundation Christ Rey manages the construction houses of wood to poor persons of the province. Celia Velasco, principal of this one organism, said that in nine years of functioning of the organization about 8 000 housings have submitted.

 The intenseness is to help the persons in order that they begin the construction of own housings. To contribute to the spread of fires, it never affirmed Velasco.

 In the canton there are 20 688 registered lands. Of all these housings at least 60 per cent they are constructed on the base of materials that facilitate the spread of fires. This way it it determines Víctor Estupiñán, chief of the Department of Evaluations and Land registries of the Municipality.

Opposite to this, Jose Vivero, affirmed that several institutions have joined efforts to reduce the index of fires in this year. The Police and the Army have realized operative of control of explosives and also you chat of concientización with the citizenship.

 But, in spite of these actions, the first disasters already have done presents to themselves. According to the Emergency head office 102, from October of this year got 50 calls for attempts of fire and two fires.