Forest fires in Portugal 2017

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Pedrógão Grande (Portugal)
Pedrógão Grande
Pedrógão Grande
Location of forest fires in Portugal in June
NASA aerial photo from June 18, 2017; the clouds of smoke are clearly visible

The 2017 forest fires in Portugal were a series of natural disasters . In June 2017, at least 65 people were burned or died of smoke inhalation and around 200 people were injured, some seriously. Another 45 people died in Portugal in another fire in October.

causes

During the heat waves in mid-June 2017 on the Iberian Peninsula , temperatures of over 35 ° C, locally over 40 ° C (as in Granada with 41.5 ° C), favored the outbreak of forest fires. In addition, there was atmospheric instability and dry winds.

At first it was speculated that arson would have triggered the forest fires in June. After that, the police assumed a lightning strike was the immediate cause of the fire. On the afternoon of June 17th, for example, a thunderstorm broke out over the area without it raining; It was also reported that the tree was found that was struck by lightning. Finally, in October 2017, a report was submitted that supported the thesis that the fire in June was triggered by contact between a medium-voltage line and the surrounding vegetation.

Fire fighting

Due to the heavy smoke development, the international fire fighting planes were unable to take off on the evening of June 18. The fire brigade had 1,700 firefighters, 900 of them in the Pedrógão Grande district , and 215 fire engines . used. Two of the four fire fronts could be brought under control. In addition to the two French and three Spanish fire fighting aircraft, a further six international fire fighting aircraft supported the fire fighting. In addition, military units supported the international forces.

“We are making progress in the fight against the flames - in all the affected provinces: Coimbra, Leiria and Castelo Branco. However, large areas are burning here, and many are difficult to access. [...] In some zones the smoke is so strong that the pilots of the international fire fighting aircraft cannot see anything, so many have to stay on the ground. "

- Elisio Oliveira, fire chief : Tagesschau

An alleged plane crash of a fire-fighting aircraft later turned out to be a false report . On the evening of June 20, the Portuguese civil defense denied the statement that a Canadair fire-fighting plane had crashed near the municipality of Louriceira . According to a newspaper, firefighters heard a bang and saw a fireball. The civil defense stated that it could not be ruled out that another aircraft had an accident, but that it had nothing to do with the extinguishing work, or that gas cylinders had exploded in the fire.

Aid organizations set up makeshift tents in many villages and distributed food. Schools and sports halls have also been converted into sleeping camps. There was a power cut in some areas. 20 villages had to be evacuated.

On the evening of June 20, most of the burning areas were brought under control. The fire was under control on most of the fire fronts. A spokesman for the operations management said the situation had improved significantly. Finally, on June 22nd, the forest fires were fully brought under control.

According to estimates by European observers, at least 26,000 hectares of forest were destroyed in the fires in June . Animal populations also fell victim to the flames.

Fatalities

At least 65 people were killed in the forest fires in June and around 200 others were injured, some seriously. Most of the injured were civilians , but also several firefighters and a military man. Eleven people were seriously injured. A total of more than 60 forest fires were active in Portugal on June 18, 2017, but most of the victims died in the forest fire in the Pedrógão Grande district 50 km southeast of Coimbra and 200 km northeast of Lisbon. 47 people died on National Road 236; including 30 people in their cars when they tried to flee the area.

Reactions

As a result of the first catastrophe, Portugal imposed a three-day state mourning until Tuesday June 20. The Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa spoke of the “greatest tragedy” of its kind in the past few decades. It is the forest fire with the most deaths in Portugal since records began. That night, Costa visited the crisis center in the region. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also visited the crisis region and praised the emergency services for their “heroic” work.

Shortly after the outbreak of the fires, the EU Commissioner in charge, Christos Stylianides, promised help from the European Union (EU). The German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel also offered support. With the help of the Copernicus earth observation system , the EU is producing maps and satellite images to help Portugal. The EU's aid efforts lasted until June 21st.

The German Foreign Minister Gabriel expressed his condolences to the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa : “There are harrowing images of encircled villages and people who fell victim to the inferno while fleeing in their cars.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel also expressed her condolences , the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sent the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa a letter of condolence. It said: "The dramatic images of the devastating forest fire in Portugal, from which so many people could not escape, affected me very much."

The Portuguese national soccer team played in mourning bandages against the Mexican national soccer team in Kazan during the FIFA Confederations Cup . A minute's silence was observed before the game began . A message from the team said: “We send our deep condolences to the families, friends and relatives of the victims. We know that mere words cannot minimize their pain. But we will carry them in our hearts today on the field. "

Criticism of the authorities

Residents criticized the emergency services because they had not seen a single firefighter for hours. “We had neither water nor electricity and, to make matters worse, we were left to our fate,” complained residents. Overloading the fire brigade was also criticized. Far too few firefighters were on duty. It was also criticized that some of the locals were not alerted in time, also because telephone connections no longer worked. The newspaper Jornal de Notícias wrote that the fire service's communication antennas had been damaged by the heat.

According to the forest scientist Paulo Fernandes of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro , the disaster could have been prevented if roads had been closed in good time. He also called for better use of meteorological data.

The environmental organization Quercus blamed the Portuguese authorities for the fire disaster. She criticized the government for a long time promoting the cultivation of eucalyptus . “Eucalyptus has spread widely in Portugal without any rules. The result is obvious: In these forest fires, the largest burned areas were eucalyptus plantations, ”as the environmentalist Hilario Costa said.

According to information from the Portuguese newspaper Público , the fire brigade's deployment plans have to be revised every two years. However, this did not happen because the MEPs in the Portuguese Parliament, the Assembleia da República , did not consider a revision to be urgently necessary.

More fires in the region

On July 2, 2017, new fires near Tramagal and São Pedro de Tomar injured at least ten people, nine of whom were firefighters. A total of 380 firefighters with 90 fire engines were on duty.

On July 23, 2017, more than 2,300 firefighters were on duty in new fires near Coimbra and in the Castelo Branco region . By July 26, 2017, the number of emergency services had increased to around 3,300, and 20 villages trapped by flames were evacuated.

On August 17, 2017, more than 3,000 firefighters were on duty against forest fires in northern and central Portugal. Dozens of people have been evacuated near Vila de Rei .

On October 16, 2017, it became known that at least 45 people were killed in renewed fires in the regions of Coimbra, Castelo Branco and Viseu in the center of the country and Aveiro in the north. At least four people also died in the northwestern Spanish province of Galicia .

Political Consequences

After the renewed fires with numerous fatalities in October 2017, the Portuguese Interior Minister Constança Urbano de Sousa resigned on October 18. In her resignation letter, Urbano de Sousa mentioned that she had already asked for her release after the fires in June, but that was rejected by Prime Minister António Costa at the time. When she resigned, Urbano de Sousa stated that the fires had several causes, but she came to the conclusion that "neither the political nor the personal prerequisites are in place to remain in office."

See also

Web links

Commons : Forest Fires in Portugal 2017  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Portugal: The Fight Against The Forest Fire  - Message

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Novo relatório assume 65 mortos em Pedrógão. In: Correio da Manhã . October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Portugal forest fires kill 62 near Coimbra. In: BBC News. June 18, 2017, accessed June 18, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Satellite image of the week: Burns. In: Der Spiegel . June 26, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Portugal: “Not a single firefighter seen for hours”. In: Der Spiegel . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Debate about failures of authorities after forest fire in Portugal. (No longer available online.) In: Salzburg24. June 20, 2017, archived from the original on June 20, 2017 ; Retrieved June 20, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.salzburg24.at
  6. ↑ a b Villages surrounded by flames - many dead. In: Spiegel Online. June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Heat wave: 54 degrees in Pakistan. In: ORF . June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Seria possível evitar o incêndio que matou tanta gente? June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 (Portuguese).
  9. ↑ a b c Forest fires in Portugal: First successes in the fight against the flames. In: Tagesschau . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Lightning strike is said to have triggered forest fires - 62 dead. In: Tages-Anzeiger . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Dry storm could have triggered a devastating fire. In: The world . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
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  25. ^ Portugal: State mourning because of devastating forest fire. In: The time . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
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  27. ^ Hans-Christian Rössle: Forest fires in Portugal: Death in the sea of ​​flames. In: Frankfurter Zeitung . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
  28. ↑ Forest fire in Portugal: Rescue workers encounter more and more victims. In: Der Spiegel . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
  29. ↑ Forest fire in Portugal: How Europe helps. In: Euronews . June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Three days of national mourning: Many dead in forest fire in Portugal. In: n-tv . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
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  32. ↑ Portugal: Minute's silence for forest fire victims before the start of the Confed Cup. (No longer available online.) In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten . June 18, 2017, archived from the original on August 17, 2017 ; accessed on June 18, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de
  33. ↑ More than 60 dead: forest fire in Portugal - allegations against the fire brigade. In: RP Online . June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017 .
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  37. ↑ Injured in new forest fires in Portugal. ORF.at, July 3, 2017, accessed on July 6, 2017 .
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  39. ↑ Forest fires in southern Europe: Fire brigade brings 10,000 French people to safety. faz.ne, July 26, 2017, accessed on July 27, 2017 .
  40. ^ Southern Europe in flames: Severe forest fires in Greece, Portugal, Italy and Corsica. wetter.ne, August 17, 2017, accessed on August 17, 2017 .
  41. ↑ Número de mortos nos incêndios sobe para 45. In: jn.pt. January 24, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2019 (Portuguese).
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