Leiria, Portugal, May 29, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's prime minister, Luís Montenegro, has called for cooperation from the public in preventing rural fires, advocating a joint effort between the state, local authorities, landowners and citizens to reduce risks during the critical period ahead.
"This is a collective effort: the state, the public administration and local authorities are making their maximum contribution with a sense of responsibility, solidarity and the utmost spirit of cooperation".
"However, this work will only be truly effective if it has everyone’s cooperation,” he said.
He visited the Integrated Command for Prevention and Operations, based in Leiria, on Thursday afternoon, taking part in a meeting attended by the defence minister, Nuno Melo; the interior minister, Luís Neves; the agriculture and maritime affairs minister, José Manuel Fernandes; the economy and territorial cohesion minister, Castro Almeida; and the environment and energy minister, Maria da Graça Carvalho, along with three secretaries of state and several mayors.
At the end of the meeting, during which there was no opportunity for questions from journalists, he emphasised the need to make “a maximum effort to clear the forests” in the time remaining until summer, noting that “there are still many blocked forest tracks and a great deal of combustible material”.
"The government has a programme that mobilises many thousands of personnel and dozens of organisations, in an effort backed by the Environmental Fund in the amount of €40 million, to do everything possible in the area of prevention within the short timeframe we have before us, up until the time of year when we will be most at risk," he said.
In his speech, he recalled that "2025 was a very intense year", with many consecutive weeks "under severe atmospheric and climatic conditions".
"We had many outbreaks; we had a good initial response, over 90%, but the part we were unable to contain during the first intervention ended up causing large-scale fires that raged for many days and were often subject to reignition," he added.
The government intends to “take a very preventive approach”, and to be effective when it comes to responding, he said.
"We are doing what we can, and we are making the greatest effort ever regarding the rural firefighting unit, which is currently being developed to ensure it is fully operational when and if times of greater adversity arise," he added.
He also took the opportunity to emphasise that the coordination currently in place, which brings together different government and operational departments, "enables a more effective response".
"This is a system we are implementing in 2026, but one we want to serve as a blueprint for the future," he said.
The Charlie phase begins on Monday, with a deployment comprising 13,335 personnel, 2,969 vehicles, 2,265 teams and 78 aircraft, a source at the interior ministry said.
During the Bravo phase, 11,955 personnel, 2,599 vehicles, 1,413 teams and 37 aircraft (two of which were undergoing maintenance) were on standby.
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