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Portugal forest fires under control after more than 60 deaths Portugal forest fires under control after more than 60 deaths
(about 1 hour later)
Forest fires raging in Portugal since the weekend and which have killed more than 60 peoplehave been brought under control, the civil protection agency says. Wildfires that killed 64 people in Portugal have been brought under control, firefighters said on Thursday as the government insisted it was still too early to say whether the disaster could have been handled better.
The huge blaze broke out initially at Pedrógão Grande and spread to adjacent areas including Góis, Pampilhosa da Serra and Arganil. Portugal’s worst forest fire broke out on Saturday in the central municipality of Pedrógão Grande before spreading to neighbouring areas including Góis, Pampilhosa da Serra and Arganil.
The fire Pedrógão Grande fire, which ravaged 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of forests, was doused late on Wednesday. Many of those who died were killed in their cars as they tried to flee the flames, which also injured more than 250 people.
The blaze in Góis, the second biggest after Pedrógão Grande, was brought under control on Thursday, said Carlos Tavares, the civil protection official leading the operations, though he cautioned that some fires could reignite. The fire in Pedrógão Grande, which ravaged 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of forests, was only doused late on Wednesday after firefighters contended with searing heat and rapidly shifting winds.
Tavares said the Góis fire had affected 20,000 hectares. Water-bombing planes and nearly 2,400 firefighters were involved in tackling it. “Higher humidity levels and lower temperatures allowed the firefighters to contain the fire and extinguish the remaining hotspots which had briefly broken out,” Antonio Ribeiro, who led the Pedrógão operations, said on Thursday.
“Higher humidity levels and lower temperatures allowed the firefighters to contain the fire and extinguish the remaining hotspots which had briefly broken out,” Antonio Ribeiro, who led the Pedrógão operations, said. The blaze in Gois, the second biggest after Pedrógão Grande, was brought under control on Thursday, although officials said some fires could break out again.
Press reports suggested that Portugal’s fire plan had not been revised for four years and that the intense heat might have made some communication antennae malfunction. Both the government and the emergency services have been criticised over their response to the fires, but the Portuguese interior minister, Constança Urbano de Sousa, said it would be premature to talk about possible state failings while the fires were still burning.
The president of the League of Firefighters, Jaime Marta Soares, said on Wednesday that he believed arson had caused the fire, contradicting an earlier police account. “At the moment we can’t say for sure whether the catastrophic consequences of this fire could have been prevented,” she told the state broadcaster RTP. “It’s the kind of natural disaster that is caused by many factors.”
The police national chief, Almeida Rodrigues, ruled out arson on Sunday. He blamed dry thunderstorms for the blaze and said they had found a tree hit by lightning. Portugal’s prime minister, António Costa, has asked the head of the National Republican Guard (GNR) why officers did not close the road where many of the victims burned to death.
Marta Soares told local news media the fire had already been burning for two hours before the storm started on Saturday.
“I believe, until there is evidence to the contrary … that the fire was of criminal origin,” he said.
Portugal’s prime minister, António Costa, has called on the emergency services to explain their response to the wildfires. He asked the head of the National Republican Guard on Tuesday why officers had not closed the road where many of the victims burned to death as they fled the flames in their cars.
He also asked for clarification on the extent to which rescuers’ communications systems had been affected by the fire, and for more information on whether the high death toll was the result of unusual weather or problems with the response.He also asked for clarification on the extent to which rescuers’ communications systems had been affected by the fire, and for more information on whether the high death toll was the result of unusual weather or problems with the response.
“Why, for how long and what impact was there on the planning, command and execution of operations if your very systems were not working? What was done to establish alternative connections?” Costa asked of the emergency services, according to the state news agency Lusa.“Why, for how long and what impact was there on the planning, command and execution of operations if your very systems were not working? What was done to establish alternative connections?” Costa asked of the emergency services, according to the state news agency Lusa.
A day earlier, he acknowledged that early efforts to alert the public had been hindered after the flames destroyed phone lines and communications towers, but insisted that “nothing compromised the firefighting efforts”. A day earlier, he said early efforts to alert the public had been hindered after the flames destroyed phone lines and communications towers, but insisted that “nothing compromised the firefighting efforts”.
The Portuguese weather agency IPMA said in an intial report that the fire had spread so quickly because of “exceptional” conditions.
The agency blamed the dynamics of the wildfire itself and atmospheric instability, which created a “downburst” - an unusually strong wind that blows down toward the ground and sprays embers across a broad area.
The IPMA report was posted on the government’s website late on Wednesday along with another report from the GNR, a paramilitary police force that patrols rural areas.
Responding to questions about why the EN 236-1 road where 47 deaths occurred was not closed, the GNR report said its officers had “no indication or information” of risk there.
In an apparent reference to problems with radio and mobile phone links, it said there had been “difficulties with [all] communications” at the time.
It added that both “freakish” weather conditions and the rapid pace of the fire took everyone by surprise.
There is also confusion over how the fire started. The national police chief, Almeida Rodrigues, ruled out arson on Sunday, blaming dry thunderstorms for the blaze and saying officers had found a tree that had been struck by lightning.
But Jaime Marta Soares, president of the League of Firefighters, said he believed arson was to blame, telling local media the fire had already been burning for two hours before the storm started on Saturday.
“I believe, until there is evidence to the contrary … that the fire was of criminal origin,” he said.