The President of the Republic paid tribute to the victims of the 2017 fires in Pedrogan Grande

This Sunday, the President of the Republic paid tribute to the victims of the 2017 fires in a ceremony that marked the beginning of the Portugal Day celebrations after the raising of the national flag in the municipality of Pedrogão Grande.

The national flag was raised symbolically at the memorial to victims of the 2017 fires, designed by architect Eduardo Souto Moura, next to Estrada Nacional 236-1, where most of the people killed in the fire that broke out in June 2017 died. were found in Pedrogan Grande, Leiria district.

Then the head of state and supreme commander of the Armed Forces, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, laid a wreath of flowers at the monument where the names of the 115 victims of the June and October 2017 fires are carved, in whose memory a minute of silence was observed.

In addition to the President of the Republic, those present were, among others, the Minister of National Defense, Nuno Melo, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, General José Nunez da Fonseca, the leaders of the three branches of the armed forces and the presidents of the chambers of the municipalities of Pedrogão Grande, Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera.

Also present at the scene were the president of the Pedrogan Grande Fire Victims Association, Dina Duarte, and Ruy Rocinha, a firefighter who was seriously injured in the fire.

The ceremony to commemorate the dead included a short speech by the Patriarch of Lisbon and Apostolic Administrator of the Armed Forces and Security Forces Diocese, Rui Valeriu, who asked for “peace to all who mourn” the death of family and friends and “health and strength” to all those fighting the fire “on this day of remembrance , gratitude, hope.”

Previously, there was silence and tribute to the dead performed by the BBC music band. There was also a tribute to the F-16 squadron.

Several dozen people came to watch the ceremony, including Ondulina, a resident of the village of Pobrys, where 11 people died in a fire on June 17, 2017, who told the Lusa agency that she often visits this monument: “I come here, well, at least read the names of the people “

Fernando Tome, chief of the Castanheira de Pera fire department, who was injured in the fire, was accompanied by his wife, children, daughters-in-law and granddaughter along with his son, also a firefighter.

In his opinion, these tributes are positive: “they remembered the people here, what happened here, and the victims who died, and those who had to suffer.”

However, regarding what had been done since 2017, he said there had been “some cleaning” along the roadsides, but felt that “it wasn’t enough” and that “the forest itself needs another, deeper cleaning.”

According to Fernando Thome, “the same thing could happen at any moment, not so serious, but it could happen.”

This year, the President of the Republic decided to celebrate the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese communities in three municipalities of the Leiria district affected by the fires of 2017: Pedrogão Grande, Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera.

The official celebrations on June 10, which begin on the day of the European Parliament elections, will also take place at the University of Coimbra, where the opening ceremony of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Luis de Camões will take place. will take place on Monday.

They will then expand to Switzerland from Tuesday to Wednesday with the participation of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.

The fire, which broke out on June 17, 2017 in Pedrogan Grande and spread to neighboring municipalities, resulted in the death of 66 people and more than 250 injuries, seven of them serious, as well as the destruction of half a thousand houses and 50 businesses.

In October of the same year, other fires in the central region killed 49 people and injured about 70, while completely or partially destroying about 1,500 homes and more than 500 businesses.