The President of the Government defended this Friday that, when the fire in the Serra da Estrela ends, it should be studied “in detail” what could have been done to prevent the fire from gaining the magnitude it ended up acquiring.

When it is finished, we will be able to study, and it deserves to be studied in detail, what happened along the tape of time and what could have happened differently, or not, to prevent the fire from reaching this scale”, declared António Cost to journalists.

Asked why more air resources from the European mechanism are not being used, Costa replied that “countries are now less available to share resources” given that fires occur even in territories where they were rare, such as Germany, and there is no European environment of its own, and a joint purchase of Canadair is underway.

On the sidelines of a visit to a nursery in Amadora (Lisbon), the leader of the Government stressed that “several dozens of homes a day” have been produced and, “fortunately, the system has responded in most cases”, by consider that the case of the Serra da Estrela is “particularly dramatic”, with a duration of one week.

As far as I believe, today there is a Spanish plane that was made available. The rest of the aircraft that Spain had available are currently compromised, I believe, by the European mechanism, in a fire in France. For example, when Spain activated the European mechanism, I think last week, we ourselves cannot support Spain this time either, because we needed the means precisely to fight our fires”, he illustrated.

The President of the Government has highlighted that Portugal has activated the means through the European mechanism “whenever they are available”, but “they have been little available” because, “contrary to what usually happened, in which the fires existed mainly in southern Europe”. and in particular in countries like Portugal, or like Greece or like Spain”, now there is “a reality in which the occurrence of these phenomena has been expanding.”

António Costa also defended the suitability of Canadair’s aircraft in firefighting in Portugal, stressing that Bombardier had discontinued their manufacture and that the order, under the joint European procurement, should only be delivered in 2024, with Portugal registered. for buying two of these planes.

Everyone knows that Canadair is the most efficient fixed-wing air transport, that is, apart from helicopters. In the past we have already tried others, such as the Russian Berievs, but since they are supplied by scoping, the Canadairs have a great advantage, and that is that they are very maneuverable aircraft, and therefore, they adapt well to the basins that we have in the different dams”, he maintained.

The Prime Minister, who was Minister of Internal Administration, underlined that the “Beriev always had difficulties and there was even one that had an accident, precisely because, when taking off, it crashed into the trees”.

Now there is a practical problem, it is that the Canadairs that exist throughout the world are all very old. And as we know from our own vehicles, the older the vehicle, the greater the risk of breakdown. Why do all countries continue to operate or when they don’t, do they rent Canadair? Because, despite everything, they are still the best there is, ”he defended.

Quercus wants an independent evaluation of the fire in Serra da Estrela

The environmental association Quercus requested this Friday an independent evaluation of the fire in Serra da Estrela and questioned the intervention of AGIF – Agency for Integrated Fire Management in the face of criticism for the lack of media coordination.

Sixteen air vehicles, including a Spanish Canadair, fight a fire in the Serra da Estrela

In a statement, faced with criticism of the action on the coordination of the media, the Quercus questions what AGIF’s intervention was — created to improve the performance of the fire prevention and fighting system — and recalls that, due to the destruction of the vegetation on the slopes, especially in the Zêzere valley, “the phenomena of erosion with dragging of materials will be problematic”.

The Asociation considers it important to carry out “an independent evaluation of this fire“, so that it is clear what needs to be improved for the future, and argues that top priority should be given to defining, before winter, emergency measures in post-fire management.

Quercus says that he is following “with concern” the evolution of the fire that is devastating part of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park and that, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), has already destroyed more than 14,000 hectares.

The fire, which broke out on Saturday in Covilhã, has already spread through the Serra da Estrela to the municipalities of Manteigas, Guarda, Gouveia and Celorico da Beira.

Quercus ecologists stress that the fire has already affected forests and biodiverse habitats in the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, a Special Conservation Area of ​​the Red Natura, as well as geosites in the Estrela UNESCO Geopark, and that it will have “serious impacts on the flora , the fauna and the territory and the populations”.

The pine forests have been greatly affected, as well as the forests dominated by gorse, heathland and broths,” insists Quercus, pointing to the areas with stands of chestnut, albariño and beech trees in the municipality of Manteigas, “which have been little affected by having low combustibility and therefore be more resistant to fire”.

“We must learn from these lessons, to reorder the landscape”, underlines the association, which adds that the yew, “a tree in danger of extinction that is found in Portugal only in part of Serra da Estrela and Serra do Gerês”, has safeguarded the most important core so far.

Among the faunal biodiversity we can highlight the mountain salamander and the Lusitanian salamander, Iberian endemisms that only occur in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and whose habitat is destroyed by fire”, he recalls.

In the note, the association also defends that the conditions for small-scale agriculture and livestock should be created, “with the payment of local ecosystem services”, which it considers “essential for the settlement of the population in these mountain territories, maintaining the biodiversity”.