Naaling

Hope this helps

TRAVELLING MAN - Pedrógão Grande

It is my understanding that mfesharne is travelling man on expatforum.

scrubbedexpat142

Best wishes and condolences from Hungary.

peterfc

Hi All

Just read on another Forum from a moderator that Steve " Mfesharne " has been contacted and both he and Sue are OK.

Peter

Lion in Winter

Good.

And good.

ouriquejan

Thanks for that Peter.

Tweedpipe

Horrendous news which we've been following on French tv since yesterday.
My thoughts go out to all those with loved ones, friends or aquaintances in the affected regions.

Pollyana

Plenty of media exposure over here in Australia, where we are all too familiar with bushfires
Stay safe everyone

Forest fires rip through central Portugal as death toll climbs to 61 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Diddion

Thanks, and thanks to Peter, also. I cannot say how relieved I am to see the expatforum post that Travelling Man has been spoken to direct, and that they and the pets are ok. I hope that their home is intact, but I imagine that is something they themseves might not yet know; Steve and Susan - our thoughts and hearts are with you.

It is sobering to think of the networks of friends and relatives of those who have perished who will be going through similar fears and will be wondering about their friends and loved ones, only to discover that they will never see them again.

macliam

Good news if mfesharne is safe and well - not so good news about his neighbours. I'll be relieved when he can post himself, but I'd imagine that's not exactly his top priority right now.

Maybe this tragedy will stir some action from the authorities to push trees further back from roads, enforce firebreaks, etc. We can but hope.....

GeniB

The authorities have already put that into law for the land owners Macliam As live said how do you enforce it though... Plus these terrible fires are a fact of life,just as in California where they have all the resources.
you can do nothing about lightning strikes in the middle of huge forests,in the middle of the night. Nor can you predict which way the wind will blow to cut you off in seconds.
I do remember this happening in Greece.some yrs ago Brits were among the dead trapped in their cars only yards from a beach.The wind had changed so suddenly ,the fire jumped the road.
Its appalling when you read about how fast and how unpredictable a forest fire can travel. We have been very close to two now here on the coast.My YD has watched one surround her 'then' house in the hills above the race track. She watched it literally 'bounce' from one hill to another . They were about to leave when it 'bounced' back towards the race track and the new hotel there .Catching them almost totally unaware....Horrific.

macliam

I did say "action" - the situation with SEPNA and the general GNR is a farce and just saying "There's nothing to be done" is not the solution.

There is provision in law for the authorities to undertake the required work and then bill the landowners - and to take control of any land for which there is no registered owner or the owner cannot be found. Opposite me is a plot of ground which has been on sale for the past 5 years (by an English seller), ignoring the convention that such land is offered first to neighbours. No aceiros have been ploughed and no scrub has been cleared in all that time. The GNR know, no action has been taken.

My FiL lived in the middle of the forest between Agueda and Viseu - all eucalyptus and pine. The "forest" is so dense that there is virtually no wildlife and the only time it is managed is when planted and when harvested. If you have ever seen eucalyptus leaves on the fire, then you'll know there's no need for firelighters there! The owners have a vast acreage of forest and sit on the land, having had government grants to set up the enterprise and banking their profits with minimal work or expense. The only "costs" to them are when a forest fire takes out some trees (at which point they expect compensation)...... that is, presuming they aren't complicit in using the fire to clear land for other purposes. All this is common knowledge, nothing is done.

Time for change.

Sunseeker1st

So pleased to hear mfesharne and family are safe.

My heartfelt condolences to those who were not so fortunate and blessings to our country's wonderful Bombeiros.

Ingles

Yes - NO Compensation for any off them under any circumstances, & the bloody clearance Law enforced to the fullest extent .

Ingles

As you can imagine, that after such a terrible tragedy & now the situation is slightly more under control, the PT Press are all over the "why's & wherefores"
The ever changing command chain during the process off trying to control the fire, contradictory order's issued to those in the front line, the accusations over the GNR's order's to drivers to use a particular road , which sadly lead to a majority off the mortalities etc etc

But it was all summed up in a short editorial in todays Correio da Manha which contained the following phrase in bold type
Incompetence is not a Crime

EMR

Coincidence, maybe but we have a digger on the pine plantation behind us busy removing scrub and small trees from the boundary line.
We have our fingers crossed that they will reach us and take down the larger trees which but for our trimming would be even more of a fire risk.