The damage caused by the fire that broke out at the beginning of August in the municipality of Castelo Branco exceeds 394,000 euros, and this amount does not include the amounts resulting from the 1,203-hectare fires, the mayor said on Friday.
“Report [de apuramento de danos provisórios] will go to the government so that we can get compensation here and a strategy for rebuilding the burned areas,” the mayor of Castelo Branco, Leopoldo Rodriguez, told Lusa this Friday.
According to the preliminary damage assessment report in the area of the municipality of Castelo Branco, as a result of the rural fire that started in Carrascal, on the 4th, the areas of the parishes of Sarcedas and Santo Andre das Toheiras were affected, with the latter being the most affected, with a total of 10 places that will be affected by the flames.
In the parish of Sarzedas, two places were affected: Carrascal and Sobrainho da Ribeira.
Leopoldo Rodríguez referred to the fact that the Municipal Civil Protection Service held three meetings with the population and an interdisciplinary team was set up that sought to obtain data on all the damage caused by the fire, as well as to advise the residents of the affected villages on the procedures to follow, if there is support, to respond to losses.
“Let’s see if we have government support,” he said.
The Mayor also stressed the importance of the existing safety lanes around the villages.
“We had several places under threat, and we saw the importance of safety lanes around the villages, which made it possible to protect people and property and avoid greater evil,” said Leopoldo Rodriguez.
According to the report, the amount of damage was calculated on the basis of registrations made by 53 landowners, mostly from the parish of Santo Andre das Toheiras.
In total, for the loss of animals, the need to replace productive capital on farms, damage to buildings and the road network, the estimated cost is 394,339 euros, this amount does not include 1,203 hectares of burned areas, of which about 917 hectares are maritime pine.
The fire that broke out on the 4th in the municipality of Castelo Branco spread to the municipality of Proença a Nova and entered the liquidation phase two days later.
According to the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), rural fires recorded in Odemir and Castelo Branco in early August account for more than half of the total area burned in Portugal in 2023.
According to the latest ICNF statistics, which already refer to the first half of August, Portugal has recorded 27,802 hectares of burned areas and 6,085 rural fires since January 1 this year, which is the second lowest number of fires. and fourth in terms of area burnt since 2013.
The fire that broke out in São Teotónio, in the municipality of Odemira, on August 5, is the largest recorded in Portugal this year, destroying at least 7,530 hectares of land, while a fire was registered in Sarcedas, in the municipality of Castelo Branco, also this year. month, resulting in the burning of a total of 6,553 hectares in the municipalities of Castelo Branco and Proença a Nova.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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