Between 1 January and 31 August were recorded 14,374 fires in Portugal and burned nearly 54,000 hectares. Only in August, it was recorded almost 4,000 occurrences which accounted for about 40% of all the area burned in 2015. Still, compared to the past ten years, both the number of fires and the area burned are average, according to a swing which was presented on Tuesday by the National Operational Commander of the National Civil Protection Authority (ANPC), José Manuel Moura.
“The number of 2015 events was close to the decade average. The months of January, March, April, May and June are far above average values and July and August have values below the average of the last ten years. With regard to the burnt area in 2015 are 35% below the average of the last ten years and 80% of ignitions have a burnt area less than one hectare. Hot flashes are considered “, summarized José Manuel Moura, at the stage of balance press conference Charlie the Special Device to Combat Forest Fires, which began July 1 and runs until the end of September.
According to the National Operational Commander, these values are considered positive since 2015 in terms of weather severity, it is the worst year for the last 16 years. However, this index only measures the dryness of the ingredients necessary to the spread of fires. In fact, this year rarely came together it perfect ground for the fires:. High temperatures, low relative humidity and strong easterly winds José Manuel Moura talks about “good results” and atribuiu- the the provision of fire-fighting device, which improved response times. “The speed of the first intervention is crucial,” he argued, advancing to the fact that they anticipate the attack the flames with heavy air assets has brought better results.
“Only the answer with great competence has allowed no terms burnt areas similar to sternly years like this, “he insisted, citing the example of Vila Nova de Cerveira Fire, an area where often burn eight to nine thousand hectares and this year was below three thousand hectares. Still, the head of the ANPC warned that the number of occurrences is unusual for the size of Portugal. “This is the critical problem of forest fires, which have to do with the number of ignitions that occur in the territory and we continue to find it an excessive number for the area of the territory,” said Jose Manuel Moura. The peak occurrence was recorded in end-of-week of 8, 9 and 10 August, with the second day to reach 336 fires. “This is where we reach the largest number of daily occurrences,” he added.
The first half of August was, as in previous years, the most problematic, concentrating 63% of the month’s fires and 67% of burnt area. Doing the math since January, August gathers 25% of fires and 40% of the burnt area. “The first half is statistically the fortnight we repeatedly brings more forest fires problems, but the month of August turns out to be within the standard,” said Jose Manuel Moura.
As for regional differences, the Commander National Operational said that “the district of Porto is what more ignitions still has” succeeded by Braga, Lisbon and Aveiro. Of the ten municipalities with more occurrences, eight are in Porto. But the most significant fires are not necessarily in this area. In fact, so far it was recorded five fires over 24 hours, in Terras de Bouro, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Monsoon, Gouveia and Sabugal.
Finally, José Manuel Moura mourned the death of a firefighter. “The permanent security forces is our main goal. Unfortunately, a traffic accident resulted in a fatality, a fire Carcavelos. Although it is a road accident did not stop being a strong punch in the stomach that the device took “took over.
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