Lisbon, Sept. 26, 2024 (Lusa) - Portuguese professor and forest fire expert Paulo Fernandes believes that emphasising arson is "a typical strategy of politicians" and says that it is a crime that accounts for a third of all fires, with no connection to "networks or interests".
"It's a bit of a manoeuvre by politicians, sometimes to divert attention from what isn't being done," said the professor in an interview with Lusa news agency, when asked if too much importance is being given to arson in relation to the wildfires that last week hit vast areas in the north and centre of mainland Portugal.
On Tuesday of last week, after an extraordinary Cabinet meeting, the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, announced the creation of a "specialised team" to criminally investigate the origin of the fires, speaking of "too many coincidences" and "vested interests". On that day, seven people had already died and 40 had been injured in connection with the fires in districts such as Oliveira de Azeméis, Albergaria-a-Velha and Sever do Vouga, in the Aveiro district.
The prime minister's statements brought the issue of arson into the public debate, but in an interview with Lusa, Paulo Fernandes downplays it, saying that the existence of ‘networks’ and ‘interests’ has never been demonstrated. "The judicial police have been investigating arson crimes for decades, if they existed they would have been discovered by now."
But also, admits the forestry researcher and professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), politicians may be convinced that there is such a predominance.
"But from what we know, from the universe of fires that have a cause found, (arson) this year was 33 %," he says, explaining that the percentage varies from year to year and that these figures don't include fires caused by children or by adults deemed unfit to be prosecuted.
In the other two thirds of the causes of fires, negligence predominates, often linked to the misuse of fire, cigarettes or burning waste vegetation. And Paulo Fernandes then adds natural fires, reignitions when the firefighting work wasn't complete, when the firefighters had to go to other fires, when the techniques used weren't the best.
With a degree in Forestry Engineering, a doctorate in Agricultural Sciences - Forestry Sciences from UTAD, with scientific work particularly on the behaviour and ecology of forest fires, and (co) author of over a hundred scientific articles, Paulo Fernandes was part of the technical commission set up in the wake of the great fires of 2017, which at the time proposed the creation of an agency specialising in rural fires.
In 2018, the Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF) was created and now, when asked by Lusa if the agency is fulfilling its objectives, Paulo Fernandes replies: "AGIF does what it's allowed to do, because it has no power".
In his words, the agency has done "a lot of good things in terms of tackling fire issues in general", such as legislation and plans, which are recognised worldwide, but it only has advisory and planning capacity, because it doesn't execute. And having moved from direct dependence on the prime minister to the ministry of agriculture has also caused it to lose "a lot of influence".
In general terms, despite the "many good things" that have been done in the country, he says, it was essential to invest more in the "technical qualification of the entire rural fire prevention system, from prevention to combat".
"I see this lack a lot, a good number of people should be better prepared from a technical point of view. We need to have a labour force and a prevention force that is as well prepared as possible, because everything else is going to depend on it," he says in the interview.
Nine people died and 175 were injured as a result of the fires that hit the north and centre of the country last week. The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority excludes from this count the two civilians who died of sudden illness.
These fires caused 135,000 hectares of burning, according to the European Copernicus system, and destroyed dozens of houses.
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