Between January 1st and October 31st, there were 365 fires in the Algarve, more than in the same period last year, but the burnt area increased from 5801 hectares to 290. These numbers make the region the one with the smallest burnt area in the country and, for Vítor Vaz Pinto, district relief operations commander, these are “excellent results” considering an “atypical year that required additional efforts”.
The balance of the Special Device for Combating Forest Fires (DECIF) of 2017 was made this Friday, at the Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), in Faro, in a ceremony that was attended by Eduardo Cabrita, Minister of Internal Administration, and which also brought together the commanders of the various fire brigades in the Algarve and the mayors of the region.
According to data presented at the meeting by Vítor Vaz Pinto, of the 365 fires, «only nine were not controlled in the initial attack, that is, in the first 90 minutes of the fire».
With regard to the burned area, 40,53 hectares resulted from the Conceição/Tavira fire and the fire which took place in Ludo, in the municipality of Loulé, consumed 100,14 hectares.
Loulé (93), Silves (82) and Faro (65) were the municipalities with the most ignitions, while Loulé, Tavira and Portimão were the municipalities with the largest burnt area according to Civil Protection.
The decrease in the burnt area assumes greater importance in a year in which, «in terms of meteorological severity, in the Algarve, the values were similar to those recorded in 2012», when more than 25 thousand hectares were burnt in the region.
Given the good results, Minister Eduardo Cabrita told journalists that he was "very pleased with the capacity for coordination and articulation of efforts between regional Civil Protection structures, corporations and mayors" and considered that "Algarve is an example in the capacity for articulation that we want to develop within the national framework”.
Even so, for the minister, «the Algarve must not forget that it is an area in which we have to bet on prevention, not least because, since 2012, there have been no large fires. We have to bet on prevention and on the best response to the coordination of means».
And the government official guaranteed that the region will see prevention reinforced with «an increased role of the GNR, an intervention in conjunction with fire brigades and also establishing an increased allocation of air resources. An immediate response, up to 90 minutes, is decisive. A regional culture is essential. There are no fires in municipality A or B. The response to the risk is the responsibility of the entire region».
The Algarve's municipalities received other good news from the minister regarding fire prevention. The Government is going to create a line of financing of 50 million euros so that local authorities can clean up land owned by private individuals who do not do so on their own initiative.
For Eduardo Cabrita, this is «the best way to make us less need to fight fires in the summer». Municipalities “may proceed, if necessary, with work in risky areas and then will be compensated for the means used. After what happened this year in Portugal, no one will forgive us for not doing everything so that Portugal and the Algarve are clean».
Jorge Botelho, president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL), also reinforced the importance of prevention because «with so little area that burned, surely something can happen in the future. What didn't burn this year, if not cut or cleaned, will stay for next year. Therefore, our mission is to work so that what did not burn this year will not be there next year, especially in risky areas. Nobody is expecting the Algarve to be cleaned from one end to the other, but in risky areas it is our mission and obligation to work», guaranteed the mayor.
The year was not dramatic in terms of fires in the Algarve, but Jorge Botelho warned the Government that “there is still a lot to be done. There is no house to rebuild, but there is a house to reorganize».
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