The Algarve firefighters demarcated themselves, in a joint document, of a very critical evaluation made by the Portuguese Firemen League (LBP) on the report by the National Civil Protection Authority (ANPC) on the fires that hit Tavira and São Brás de Alportel at the end of July.
The commanders of the Algarve corporations that fought the fire accused LBP officials of "opportunism".
In a document signed by the 27 operational commanders who were on the ground, the Sul Informação had access, the firefighters of the Algarve say they do not recognize the “technical, operational and scientific capacity of the rapporteur [Duarte Caldeira] of the document produced by the Portuguese Firemen League, which presents several inaccuracies revealing levity in its elaboration”.
The LBP document accuses the ANPC of not having given a real picture of what happened on the ground, in the report it produced, and says that the operation had flaws in terms of coordination of means and firefighting strategy, even speaking of total lack of control in the first 36 hours that the fire raged.
A position that emerges shortly after minister Miguel Macedo commissioned an independent report on the fires in Serra do Caldeirão, after the ANPC delivered what it did internally.
The Algarve commanders, on the other hand, expressed their "perplexity" by the fact that none of the operational heads of the corporations in the region involved in the firefighting were heard, in the context of preparing the ANPC assessment.
At the same time, they are surprised that the LBP document "does not comment on the state of the area affected by the fire, namely the insufficiency of fuel management lanes, accumulation of leftovers in forest stands and combustible material in water lines."
In the ANPC report, this is a factor mentioned several times as a justification for the strong spread of fire in the first two days it took place.
In addition, the official report also mentions the difficult terrain, the scarcity of road connections, which forced the means to circumvent the fire perimeter when they were repositioned and the concern to protect dispersed buildings, very abundant in the area affected by the fire.
«Only those who do not know the particularity and specificity of Serra do Caldeirão and the influence of the Mediterranean climate on it can question the command and control of the largest civil protection operation ever seen in Portugal, involving a significant number of agents and heterogeneous cooperating entities”, considered, in turn, the firemen of the Algarve.
The commanders of the Algarve corporations took the opportunity to "regret the property losses" that resulted from this fire, but recalled that the fact that "there has not been a single fatality or serious injury is a clear indicator of the work done by everyone in the field, which cannot be denigrated by those to whom airtime is unduly given in this matter'.
The Algarvian firefighters also affirmed “total confidence in the District Operational Commander and the National Operational Commander”.
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