Two firefighters who sustained spinal and arm injuries in Tuesday’s crash have already been operated on, and the surgeries “went well,” the interior minister said today.
According to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, four firefighters from the Vila Mean Volunteer Corporation were injured on Tuesday after a vehicle rolled over while they were on their way to put out a fire that raged in Teixeira and Teixeiro, in Baiau. Porto area.
Minister José Luis Carneiro said today that the surgeries on two of these elements “went well,” according to information he received from the president of the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters Vila Mean and the director of the Padre America Hospital in Penafiel.
“There is a third person hospitalized, but in a non-serious condition,” the minister added.
For José Luis Carneiro, it was “an accident of great severity.”
“Today we could mourn five dead, but, fortunately, the result saved the lives of those firefighters who carried out their activities,” he lamented.
The Minister took the opportunity to once again appeal to the public to take extra care in the coming days, when temperatures and fire risk are expected to rise.
“I have the intention of paying a visit to these firefighters,” added the minister, who already led the Bayan Chamber (from 2005 to 2015).
Filipe Fonseca, Bayán’s deputy mayor, told Luza on Tuesday that the accident happened around 2:00 pm on a forest trail between Mafomedes and Teixeiro, on a section of a steep slope where flames were burning.
The mayor said that three firefighters stuck in the corporate vehicle were removed from the vehicle and taken to the hospital, one of whom is in serious condition.
In addition to these three firefighters, a fourth occupant of the car was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Filipe Fonseca added.
Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon Américo Aguiar, who is the chaplain of the Portuguese firefighters, visited the injured operators at the Padre América hospital this morning and urged the Portuguese to adopt “responsible behavior given the high temperatures and winds” and cooperate. with civil protection and emergency situations authorities.