A new Municipal Emergency Operations Centre (CMOS) was officially inaugurated on Monday in Faro, designed to cut response times, improve coordination, and even anticipate risks before they escalate into crises.
“Many times, a minute can be the difference between life and death,” said Rui Rocha, Secretary of State for Civil Protection. “Having this kind of technology, trained personnel, and resources dedicated to this mission is extremely important and decisive”.
Representing a €250,000 investment, the new facility features an operations and communications room as well as a crisis management unit and will employ 14 specialised technicians to coordinate civil protection resources.
Under Portuguese law, a CMOS can be created at the municipal level in cities and towns with more than one fire brigade, as is the case in Faro. Once operational, it replaces the existing dispatch centres of individual fire departments and municipal structures involved in emergency management.
Faro mayor Rogério Bacalhau described the new centre as a “vital space” which will provide an “important qualitative leap in protecting the population.” The mayor highlighted that the facility will help reduce emergency response times, anticipate risks, and free up municipal firefighters for on-the-ground operations.
As part of broader investments in civil protection, Bacalhau also announced the purchase of a new urban fire engine, valued at €500,000, which will be delivered in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Faro’s municipal civil protection coordinator highlighted the centre’s role as more than just a dispatch hub.
“The idea is for this to be a space that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, monitoring meteorological conditions, coastal surveillance cameras – basically, all parameters that may impact citizens’ lives in terms of emergency response,” Rui Graça said.
