José Realinho

Commandant  of the Special Firefighting Force – National Civil Defence Authority

ECO123: What is needed for there to be no forest fires in Portugal?
That’s impossible, whatever we do from 2013 to 2014, it’s impossible. In any case, we must firstly try to minimise forest fires, mainly the number, because our country has a very large number when compared with the rest of Europe. By reducing the number of fires, we will be more effective in firefighting as there will be more resources available, and we will certainly be able to respond in a more appropriate and balanced manner. To reduce the number of fires, almost all the measures to be taken come under the heading of prevention, because as far as legislation is concerned, this is sufficient, what I don’t know is if it will be implemented and complied with in full.

As far as awareness-raising about forest fires is concerned, people in Portugal in general don’t appear to have the correct attitude, as they continue to start fires in an indiscriminate manner, even though in most cases there are reasons of a cultural nature or connected with livestock farming, which later lead to a large number of fires. And so it’s in the area of raising people’s awareness that there is work to be done, and in parallel reinforcing the application of legislation especially in terms of inspection.

In terms of prevention proper, our rural areas, especially in the interior, have been depopulated, a problem that will certainly continue in the future, and this means that the forest often grows in an unregulated manner, with spontaneous generation, which frequently jeopardises the firefighting work because there is no network of access routes, no water outlets or natural firebreaks. In this aspect, we still have a long way to go and fire prevention and the reorganisation of the forest either have to be accompanied naturally by a return of people to the interior and the utilisation of forest areas, or left to itself, without being accompanied in this way, it will be difficult to see a positive result in the future and there will certainly be costs. It’s not enough to clear the ground, to create firebreaks and containment areas, there will also have to be a return of people, if not the maintenance will have to be continuous and the machinery used will cost a lot.