In 2014, in the Algarve, more area burned than in 2013, although there were fewer fires than in the previous year. But, contrary to what is usual, it was in the Bravo phase, which took place from May 15th to June 30th, that a more extensive area was burned.
In the period considered the most critical, between July 1 and September 30, the extent of the burned area decreased substantially from one year to the next.
The different entities involved in the 2014 Defense of Forest Against Fires in the Algarve region took stock of this year's operation, in a ceremony that took place yesterday in Faro.
A session where it was highlighted that, despite an increase in the burned area compared to the previous year, this was well below the average of the last ten years.
In total, 848,1 hectares of land burned in the Algarve region this year, numbers that are far from the years of the great fires (in 2012, the fire in Catraia destroyed more than 26 thousand hectares, numbers similar to the fires of 2003, in Monchique, and 2004, in Barranco do Velho).
The increase in the burnt area in the phases where the alert level is not the highest had to do, essentially, with unusual peaks of hot and dry weather, outside the “high season” of fires. It was during one of these periods that the most destructive fire of the year occurred in the region, in Mexilhoeira Grande, in mid-June. In this fire alone, 384 hectares of bush and forest were destroyed, which greatly helped to increase from 29,1 burned hectares in 2013 to 431 hectares in 2014 during the Bravo phase.
Despite the increase in the burned area from one year to the next, the effectiveness of the field workers was high. In 339 recorded occurrences, the fires were not controlled in the initial attack (in the first 90 minutes), in 14 cases, which puts the effectiveness of the first response at «96 percent».
Among the fires that were not quickly put out, only two lasted for a significant time, in both cases for about 13 and a half hours. One of them was the Mexilhoeira Grande, on June 15th and 16th, the other was the one in São Marcos da Serra, on the 30th of August, in which 195,5 hectares were burned.
If we add to these two fires what affected the Budens area, in Vila do Bispo, in October (76 hectares), we found those responsible for "77 percent of the burned area in the Algarve in 2014", as revealed by the district commander of Civil Protection Vaz Pinto.
According to data released yesterday, almost half of the occurrences were considered "agricultural fires" and only 8 percent were classified as forest fires.
Comments