Eco123 Revista da Economia e Ecologia
I recently received an email that said: “Good evening. I would like to see an online demonstration, as I am from Porto. I don’t know if there is a project in this region that you can show me? I am currently preparing to build a house in a rural area with a history of forest fires in S. I am looking for a system that acts preventively and intervenes in an emergency. Thank you very much.”
With my phone in my hand, I decided to call the sender back immediately and personally invite them to visit Monchique. Every Saturday at the Esgravatadouro cooperative, we demonstrate what our forest fire prevention system can and should do and how it works. We designed WetNet (which is the name we have chosen for our fire extinguishing system) during the last forest fire in August 2018. That was at a time when I was still using a garden hose to put out fires in our pine and cork-oak forest, thinking that this extinguishing process could definitely be improved…
Once the fires were extinguished (a process that took a full eight days), I finally had a good sleep, after which I picked up a sheet of paper and a pencil and drew from heart the system that I had just devised. A very important part of this fire extinguishing system is the cistern, filled with rainwater, which is directed from the gutters of our house into the closed basin, where it is collected and stored.
The principle is to collect the winter rain so that it can then be used in the dry, hot summer months. This collected rainwater is reserved exclusively for fighting possible forest fires. We live and work in a high-risk area where highly flammable eucalyptus monocultures have been planted around us, and our three hectares of diverse forest represent an oasis in the desert. Our forest is a very diverse mixed forest of old and young trees: there are more than a hundred species, ranging from carob trees and umbrella pines to Monchique oaks (Latin: quercus canariensis). Old cork oaks represent the natural cultural heritage of the region
At the same time, we have created a small tree nursery, through which we guarantee the diversity of the trees. We have also built a fire wall around our fire-resistant house. Since 1991, we have survived five forest fires. We consider ourselves specialists in the field of forest fires and how to protect ourselves from them…
An underground water pipe leads from the cistern to a small command post, which houses the water filter, the special pump and the taps for ten sprinklers. An emergency generator guarantees that electricity is always available, even in the event of a major forest fire, regardless of the normal power supply. We demonstrate our sprinkler system to anyone who is interested, so that people and their homes are not helplessly exposed to fire… And, in addition to our consulting efforts, we also offer seminars in which we explain and demonstrate how to install the sprinkler system. If you then commission us to build such a system, we will install a tailor-made system for you. In 2025, we installed our first system with six sprinklers for a longstanding ECO 123 subscriber near Aljezur, who wanted to protect his holiday accommodation.
Now is the time to start preparing for the dry, hot summer months. A sprinkler system that sprays houses and forests with water at the right moment, thus minimising forest fires, offers extra protection for safely built houses and quite different, but well-maintained forest properties. Your home insurance company will certainly show its appreciation when calculating your premium…
The next screening of WetNet will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, 28 March in Caldas de Monchique. Registration is by email:
