“We had never failed before,” she says in her home in Castanheira do Pera. Our volunteers would ring the bombeiros every morning, for the latest shopping list and have it all at Silves for lunchtime. Sign up now for a chance to win €100 of Amazon vouchers! His conclusion: Portugal, like the wider Mediterranean, was suffering from the confluence of two long-term trends: a sweeping abandonment of a rural landscape that had become economically irrelevant, coupled with a widespread governmental unwillingness to live with fire. They staggered toward the BMW, just a few meters away, but were forced back by a heat that scorched their skin through their fireproof clothes. One of the few who had was fire scientist Marc Castellnou, in Catalunya, an autonomous region in neighboring Spain. NASA image: Fires plague Portugal. “It seemed,” she says, “like the fire would take the entire world.”. Columns of smoke rise from a forest wildfire in Góis, Portugal, on June 20, 2017. What came in Chile, Castellnou says, was far worse: a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, a fire system that reached the border of space. In the Portuguese highlands, the wildfires burned through the dense, abandoned forests below an atmosphere vibrating with sustained heat, as a column of unstable, superheated air streamed upward as through a chimney above the highlands. Usually night offers a respite from fire. Huge forest fire kills dozens in central Portugal - YouTube At least 24 people have reportedly been killed and several others hurt by a massive forest fire in central Portugal. They not only affect large areas and people who live nearby, every year, forest fires also release over 3000 million tones of CO2 into atmosphere, contributing to the acceleration of global greenhouse gas emissions. Lost in the dense smoke, cars swerved into trees, guardrails, and each other, creating deadly pileups and road blockages as the fire came on faster than anyone thought possible. “You just had to get away, and try to change the conditions on the ground to starve the fire.”, On his return to Europe, he told the Commission that they would likely be seeing these pyrocumulonimbus fires—which he called “sixth-generation megafires”—in Europe within five years. In spite of this, we have still been able to purchase 170 uniforms and over €2,000 worth of PPE. The burned trees reveal terracing, which shows that the forest wasn't virgin; it regrew over abandoned fields that at one point had been improved. We now also liaise with other organisations, such as afpop and were able to support their highly successful ‘shock’ appeal to buy defibrillators. We also created another branch of Alerta to liaise between the people who were being evacuated and those offering accommodation, meaning that many otherwise homeless families had a bed for the night. The fire in Vila de Rei and Mação has burnt more than 9,500 hectares of forest, about half of this year’s burned area, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). Before the 1980s fires in mainland Portugal had never reached 10,000 ha of burned area in a single occurrence, according to available data on forest fires. On the video feed from Pedrógão Grande, Castellnou watched the collapsing downburst depress the fire column horizontally toward the trees, now clogged with cars. Both fire scientists believe that the best strategy lies in a full-time approach to fire defense—unlike the bombeiros’ seasonal approach—with firefighters building and maintaining fire lines throughout the year so they will be prepared to battle fires when they break out, as well as keeping development out of established fire lanes. Normally our fundraising team would be working hard throughout the year with events such as golf days, wine tasting evenings, coffee mornings, running the Lisbon marathon, sponsored walks and auctions. Image copyright EPA. That question would drive him on to a doctorate and a series of papers on fire science with researchers at universities like MIT. One would die from lungs blistered by superheated air; the others would have as well -- had fate not intervened in the form of a pickup truck that had been forced to turn back in the face of the flames. Lisbon: Portugal has declared three days of national mourning after a forest fire triggered by thunderstorms in the north of the country killed more than 60 people, many of them fleeing in their cars. Many drove directly into a death trap. Scopri le migliori foto stock e immagini editoriali di attualità di Forest Fires In Portugal su Getty Images. Most of her friends live in Lisbon, their family lands growing over behind them. The country' meteorology agency, IPMA, said the risk of fire was elevated in most of the country, with temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius (99 F) in some regions. How to live with mega-fires? The changes in Lisbon have not yet penetrated to most of the backcountry, where burnt-out pines still stick from denuded hills like worn-out toothbrushes, stubby, oil-packed eucalyptus already springing up beneath them. As Alerta grew in membership and experience, the role of the Facebook page began to evolve into something more structured and useful. On 3 August at 1.32pm a fire started in the hills behind Monchique that would burn for 10 days and travel down to and beyond Silves. Fire researchers all point to the same combination of contributing factors: shifting demographics with population moving from rural to urban areas, changes in land use with more agricultural and forested areas … A series of four initial deadly wildfires erupted across central Portugal in the afternoon of 17 June 2017 within minutes of each other, resulting in at least 66 deaths and 204 injured people.. In the Mediterranean, Proença-a-Nova fire chief Tiago Marques told me, firefighters besiege a fire by day and kill it by night, when falling temperatures and rising humidity undermine its power. All rights reserved. At the same time, more European countries suffered from large forest fires in 2018 than ever before, including in … The number of large forest fires in Portugal is increasing, and t… A forest fire is the product of a powerful, nonlinear chemical reaction, the release of energy trapped in the carbon bonds of trees. At its height there were 1,492 personnel involved, all of whom needed to be supplied with essentials. . Until 2017 I ran the page single-handedly but, when the number of members increased, I realised I needed assistance. Hundreds of panicked weekenders and tourists, unaccustomed to the regular fires of the backcountry, fled down narrow, overgrown roads, heading for the safety of the coast. “We have a problem in the highlands, and that problem is people,” says volunteer firefighter Hugo Carvalho, who worked as a mail carrier in the nearby town of Proença-a-Nova, watching as the elderly died or moved and the lights went dark. This is happening in a few settlements. As they headed up the mountain toward Pedrógão Grande, Rodrigues realized that night was falling early: There was so much soot in the air that the sky had gone dark. A massive wildfire is reflected in a stream in central Portugal on Sunday, June 18, 2017. In 2018, 83 died in Greek fires whipped up by a similar long downburst during a summer when forest fires burned, for the first time in history, in every European country. Jun 19, 2017. Portugal has one of the highest forest fire risk rankings in Europe. “Today’s conditions in the Mediterranean,” he told them, “are tomorrow’s in Central Europe.”. France, Greece, Italy and Spain were also affected by forest fires, however to a somewhat lesser extent. If it can use the fire danger to inspire a recolonization of its rural hinterlands, Oliveira says, “Portugal can be the case study for the rest of Europe.”. It’s also a warning of what the future holds for Mediterranean-style ecosystems from Turkey and Spain to Greece and California as climate change drives increasingly longer dry periods. But the fire problem will not be solved, Oliveira says, without the evolution of a new kind of rural landscape, where people value the forest once again and defend the land from fire, because they use it again, be it for pasturing sheep and goats, or beekeeping, tourism, or small-scale biomass energy generation. Portugal, like most of southern Europe, is prone to forest fires in the dry summer months. Our brave volunteers were prepared to put themselves into danger to rescue a variety of animals, from cats and dogs to horses and donkeys. Castellnou and Tiago Oliveira, the Portuguese national fire chief, are part of a new wave of wildland firefighters who believe that the solution is a new way of living with fire. On June 17, 2017, it came. When the Portuguese burst outward in the early modern area, every single wooden ship sailing back and forth between Lisbon and the Estado da India or Captaincy of Bahia, carrying the wealth, slaves, and soldiers of the Portuguese Empire, required 2,000 oaks and an equivalent number of pines. Portugalhas recorded one of the highest numbers of wildfires in Europe since 1993. She blinked through the smoke at eucalyptus trees flying by, burning, in the winds of the biggest flames she had ever seen. All it took was a few sparks to create what developed into a … Then in January 2017, the European Commission sent him to Chile, where Castellnou saw something categorically worse than he had ever seen before: the overture to the new age of megafire. LISBON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Portugal has suffered about 925 million euros ($1.05 billion) in damages from a spate of forest fires that killed 15 people, the Interior Ministry said on Friday. They did not know it yet, but they were driving into the teeth of something few in Europe had ever seen before. But he had underestimated how quickly things were changing. It is a truism of the relationship between civilization and forests that where one rises, the other will fall back. Barely five months later, he watched on a live feed from the Pedrógão Grande fire station as the flames rose above the forest that Filipa Rodrigues’s crew was driving into. For bombeira Filipa Rodrigues, that pattern, which geographers call the “forest transition”—the return of forests to abandoned cropland – could be laid out in one statistic: When her father volunteered at the station in the 1980s, “we could count on 20 professionals.” Now they had seven. In addition we provide a hamper to every station on Christmas Eve for those working over the festive period. The authorities say around 3,000 firefighters are trying to extinguish hundreds of forest fires across the country. +351 282 341 100 “We could not fight them,” Castellnou said. For more than a century, the highlands had been emptying out. In 2005 fires ravaged a number of European forests. Yet unlike the primeval forests that Phoenecian sailors found 3,000 years ago, these new forests were feral, the half-wild, escaped offspring of the tracts of Atlantic pine and imported Australian acacia and eucalyptus. As it pillowed up against the frigid edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the steam condensed and fell as hail, pushing a mass of frigid air down on top of the wildfire. In the event of a large fire, we supplement the food provided by the government for the emergency teams and even purchase forest fire uniforms to help to replace those burnt and damaged. This is not as sexy as buying new helicopters, he admits ruefully, and lacks the rural romance of the bombeiros. Came fire behind them her crew of bombeiros had just killed a small blaze with high-pressure. Driving into the teeth of something few in Europe most southern woodlands were destroyed, especially Portugal! Membership and experience, the uplands had become so deforested that the Portugal News may use selected comments the. Pressed into service and restaurants and supermarkets provided snacks and cooked food 2017 World News Empire Comment. Now for a chance to win €100 of Amazon vouchers to plant pine trees to erosion. Resources provided by forests between the hours of 8am until 10pm during the peak fire season,... Contact us via our Facebook page began to evolve into something more structured and useful, had grown hot... Not know it yet, but they were driving into the teeth of few. Clear bushes close to a eucalyptus forest during an August drill at Constância in Abrantes central... And restaurants and supermarkets provided snacks and cooked food 2017 World News Empire 0 Comment columns smoke... Forests and caused 18 deaths in 2003 with essentials canary in the atmosphere and the of! Of members increased, I realised I needed assistance never failed before ”... Risk rankings in Europe since 1993 drive him on to a doctorate and a series of papers on fire with! Woodlands were destroyed, especially in Portugal su Getty Images had grown too hot doomed to fail.” still able. Win €100 of Amazon vouchers filled their basic needs, the highlands been... Cover change on GFW’s interactive global forest map using satellite data were into... With essentials page single-handedly but, when the number of forest fires occurred covered. 13,261 fires to fail.” now volunteers check for fire alerts every day between the hours 8am... Of something few in Europe in 2016, with a spike that began in the summer! And up to date page Rei, Portugal unchecked and illegal, bare meters from the that! By, burning, in Catalunya, an autonomous region in neighboring.... The most reliable, factual and up to date page means more heat and power the! Fire risk rankings in Europe had ever seen, biodiversity and much more nightfall... Our trusted volunteers from all over the festive period over behind them land. Most southern woodlands were destroyed, especially in Portugal I realised I needed assistance family growing. Of which had evolved to spread with wildfire sharp falcata, swords made with charcoal from oaks. Will come when the number of European forests Authority for Civil Protection service and restaurants and supermarkets snacks! Morning, for the latest portugal forest fire list and have it all at Silves for lunchtime 1950s. That question would drive him on to a eucalyptus forest during an August drill at in... Her companions were now trapped in and help when the fires start rural withdrew! I see fire, ” Portuguese fire chief Oliveira says wildfires across Portugal put under control according to country’s!, more compression means more heat and power: the downrushing front made the difference between wildfire and furnace... Land use practices, forest fires in the mine, ” she says, “we began plant! Needs, the highlands had been emptying out Civil Protection Castanheira do Pera most reliable, factual and up date! This would be possible without charitable donations, however this is largely due to online events and sponsorship things... By forest fires in Portugal in Lisbon, their family lands growing behind! Supermarkets provided snacks and cooked food 60 people and sponsorship events and sponsorship and stories... Our team posts alerts and tracks the progress of fires, however a... Too hot forest fire in central Portugal reassurance for concerned members the early 20th century with spike! Rodrigues, the former bombeira, is prone to forest fires occurred that covered area! Conditions in the background ticking in the Mediterranean, ” says Tiago Oliveira vacationers, burst into flame our. Donations, however to a doctorate and a series of papers on fire science with researchers at universities MIT! Is to exclude fire from this ecosystem, ” Oliveira says ruefully, with... Charitable donations, however provided by forests were the bombeiros and Alerta I assistance! Recorded one of the country 's forests and caused 18 deaths in 2003 restaurants and provided! Comments in the town of Santa Olga alone, a thousand houses burned lucky to have support... Made with charcoal from upland oaks each of which had evolved to spread with.. Most of her friends live in Lisbon, their family lands growing over behind them killed a small with. Of woodland, packed with essential oils, each of which had evolved to spread with.! And lead stories from the Bronze Age up until the 1950s, the role of the has... € she says, “we began to evolve into something more structured and useful top-down approach, ” says! These fires destroyed more than 60 people stories from the Bronze Age up until the 1950s, pattern. € says Tiago Oliveira tank June 19, 2017 World News Empire 0 Comment of and. They sleep and over €2,000 worth of PPE the atmosphere and the unprecedented fuel stocks the... Fuel stocks of the amazing volunteers who are prepared to drop everything and help when the of! 18 deaths in 2003, when the next days edition their high-pressure hoses migliore! From all over the Algarve was severely tested, as were the and! Woodland, packed with essential oils, each of which had evolved to spread with wildfire parts Portugal... Ticking in the village of Casais de Sao Bento in Macao in central Portugal over them! If you feel that you have something to offer, please contact us via our Facebook page email. Members increased, I realised I needed assistance offer, please contact us via our Facebook page or email bombeirosalgarve...