The government announced that about five hundred firefighters will be deployed between this Saturday and Wednesday to reinforce areas at high risk of rural fires at a time when warmer temperatures are being recorded.
In a statement from the Ministry of the Interior (MAI), under the leadership of José Luis Carneiro, it says that 96 groups have been created, consisting of 480 fire department personnel, who will be “during this period in greater readiness to strengthen the initial attacking capacity. “village fires”.
“The decision to install the exceptional device was based on the high temperatures that are experienced in various parts of the mainland, associated with drought caused by well-below average rainfall,” justifies the guardianship.
Thus, the MVD note also states that these groups will be “implemented by order of the National Operational Command for Emergency Situations and Civil Protection in sub-regional commands subject to greater pressure from the number of fires and the development of the meteorological scenario.”
“This exceptional device adds to what was already on the ground because the country is currently at the level of continuous use of the Special Rural Fire Fighting Device,” he adds.
According to data released by the Government, 1,810 rural fires were registered between January 1 this year and April 7, as a result of which 6,614 hectares were burned, including forest plantations (1,575 hectares), shrubs (4,965 hectares) and agricultural land. (74 ha).
These data, calculated up to April 7, represent the 6th-highest number of fires and the 5th-highest number of burned areas since 2013.
Speaking to reporters on Monday following the opening of the PSP police station in Matosinhos, Minister José Luis Carneiro warned that 2023 will be “even more difficult” than 2022 in fighting wildfires, asking people and institutions to prepare.
The minister stressed that the Portuguese state, civil protection and local authorities are trying to do their part, but everyone must do their part because 55% of the fires that broke out in 2022 were due to negligence.
The area burned in the 2022 fires was more than three times the area burned in 2021, with 109,514 hectares of rural fires engulfed by the end of September, the highest since 2017, according to data released in October by the Institute nature conservation. Nature and Forests (ICNF).