The President of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA) congratulated the Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighters for the first place in the International Manoeuvres Competition held in Austria.
 
The Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighter team composed of 10 members, accompanied by the commander, was the best in the competition, having won the Gold Medal in this international event.
 
"These initiatives provide a strong contribution to the preparation of the Region's fire brigades for a performance of excellence in their day-to-day missions, which makes the SRPCBA very pleased and proud," said Carlos Neves.
 
The President of SRPCBA also stressed that "this result demonstrates the skill and techniques applied on a daily in firefighting and emergency situations by our firefighters when safeguarding the safety of the Azorean population."
 
The International Manoeuvre Competition involved the participation of 27 European countries as well as some invited countries. The event consisted of two competitions related to the daily activities of firefighters.
 
The team from Ribeira Grande was one of the seven that represented Portugal in this competition, being the only one in the country that qualified in the first places.
 
The Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighters had already won the Gold Medal in this international competition in Croatia in 2005.
 
The qualification, travel and participation of Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighters in this competition was supported by SRPCBA, among other entities.