EMR

Our thoughts should be with all those affected yet again by major fires in the North of Portugal.
It is only due to good luck that we in the South have avoided these disasters.

macliam

I'd be interested to know if any of our colleagues in the affected area have seen much change since the earlier fires.

The GNR in my area have done absolutely nothing about enforcing the need for clearance and aceiros for the past 2 years - and a Portuguese friend told me over the weekend that €12m donated after the last fires has "gone missing".

Meanwhile, the local environmental engineer was to convince me that there's nothing wrong with plantations of eucalyptus .......

When will someone actually do something? How many have to die?

EMR

Earlier today I was discussing the latest fires with a Portuguese acquaintance.
He said that there is increasing anger in the country at the lack of action.
He hopes that following the recent elections with many councils changing to the Socialists after years of the same local mayors that something will be done.
He was very vocal about the inaction of the army who are far better equipped than the bombeiros but sit in their barracks instead of clearing firebreaks etc.

It is still very windy here in the South with little sign of the forcasted rain.

I will be over the wall again clearing fallen leaves, branches away from our boundary.

mfesharne

WE live in the village of Nodeirinho where 11 (30% of the population) died & several homes destroyed or damaged. Our house was the first in the village to be hit........ We just had time to grab our cat & dog & get the hell out & we raced the fire for the next 7 or 8 km on the road where so many died...... and most must have died within a few minutes of our passing.

The owners of the block of commercial woodland directly behind my house were told to cut their trees to the legal firebreak limit 3 years ago & did nothing about it...... & I can absolutely prove that had that one block been cleared, the fire could not have entered my village at all & if it hadn't entered my village, it couldn't have entered the next village either.

Despite that & despite the BS report that was handed to the President last Thursday no-one from the investigation even set foot in our village to ask about personal experiences & opinions. No-one was so much as asked to complete a questionnaire about their experiences'

To date, more than 4 months after the fire, barely a tree has been cut in the block behind me, 2 separate landowners in that block have told me they have no intention of cutting their trees & the eucalyptus trees are all regenerating which means that in 5 or so years time the situation will be even worse than it was just before this last fire.

As I see it, fire is a part of nature & can't be prevented but it can be controlled & if the legal firebreak laws were strictly observed throughout the country the fires would just burn trees & not take lives, livelihoods & homes & better the owners of the illegally planted commercial woodland lose money than others lose lives etc.

If I had my way, not only would the guilty landowners be prosecuted for breaching the firebreak laws, they'd also be prosecuted for manslaughter.

lennox

mfesharne

I'll add that at least 50 more died within 5 km of our village & (allegedly) all within the same 15 minutes...... most died due to burning trees falling across the road because the trees are planted right up to the roadside verge......... we experienced that as well..... As we were driving out of the village, my friend who is a retired fireman was following behind us & a burning tree fell behind my car & in front of his........ fortunately his training taught him not to stop & he just hit the accelerator & bounced over it.......... we couldn't have been luckier in any aspect of the escape.

I & some of my Portuguese friends, including lawyers & fire prevention/management lecturers are working on simplifying the process where concerned landowners can force the owners of offending woodland to either cut to the firebreak limit & if they don't for the concerned landowner to do it for them & sell the wood to cover costs....... and it's making me a tad unpopular in some circles. lol!

It'll take time but once the process is complete we'll be posting it all over the internet & a pox on the fidiots that caused these fires to do so much damage!

macliam

I'd like to say that I'm surprised ..... but I'd be lying. For all that I love Portugal, it is still the land of "Pirates" (Piratas com gravatas) that it was when I first came here nearly 30 years ago and those with a powerful "godfather" are protected. This, added to the "deixe lá" attitude means that any progress is slowed to a point that everyone loses interest and/or the law is applied with the logic of the Mad Hatter.

Unfortunately, the attitude of most people is to keep their heads down - maybe a carry-over from the dictatorship - or maybe why it lasted so long in the first place

Any change to the positive is always a pleasant surprise....

Red Eric

There does seem to be a bit of a different mood this year - much more anger and a sense of urgency about something needing to be done.

From whenever that dreadful fire in Pedrogão was until now is far too short a time for a considered response to whatever has gone wrong but I expect a substantial reaction on the part of the government this time. I hope I won't be disappointed again.

mfesharne

4 months ago today but although we've seen lots of politicians showing up in the area & heard many fine words about how things will change we've not seen any changes in the law or even seen the current laws being enforced & as far as I know, not a single prosecution for breaching the fire break laws let alone manslaughter!

The support my area has had from the ordinary Portuguese people has been phenomenal but I fear the politicians won't do much unless pushed very hard indeed!

Red Eric

There is an accumulation of issues stretching back years and limited resources available. It's not something we could realistically expect to be responded to in a well-considered, effective manner, taking into account the various constraints, in the space of a few weeks, in my opinion.

I just hope that now it's got to this point, the clamour for action is sufficient to carry through some real changes.

mfesharne

No doubt it'll take time but even now after all this fire, owners of illegally planted commercial woodland are still flatly refusing to cut the trees & clear the land........ I honestly believe they deserve to be prosecuted for manslaughter.

They ought to be bloody ashamed of themselves!

Ingles

Mariano Rajoy gave a press brief at the site off one off the fires in Spain ,& it included the following comment !

"How can five fires start in the same area at one o'clock in the morning"

macliam

Obvious! Catalans!!!

BEVS

That is so dreadful all round.

I am sorry that you have lost your home but glad you escaped unscathed.

mfesharne

Glad to say that although the house was damaged it survived.

The outer panes of all the windows on 3 sides sides of the house shattered with the sudden temperature change, the window blinds melted, the garage roof burnt out & the garage doors were welded shut but house & even my much loved classic car that was parked in the garage next to 3 gas bottles survived unscathed..... we could not have been luckier.

My guess is the house was waterbombed in the nick of time.