Portugal Situation and Safety Report Wednesday 27th July 2022
Good morning – As you can see it has been an extremely busy week, and although past the heatwave we have still experienced several major fires.
Most of these have been in the north of the mainland, except for a major fire that broke out in bushland in Silves municipality close to the border with Beja district and close to the IC 1. As this fire spread eastwards it resulted in the closure of the A 2 as well. Now both reopened.
This was a most complicated fire in a hilly area, fanned by strong winds and with a very low relativity humidity. Ariel response was hampered by the presence of power lines in some places. Through the superb work of all firefighters and all civil protection agents involved the fire is now at a resolution stage. Let’s hope it is brought to a conclusion soon.
It was a wise decision to place the Algarve and Beja districts on Red internal readiness alert for Monday and Tuesday now reduced to Orange today.
Last night the Secretary of State for Civil Protection, Patrícia Gaspar stated that from today, we will have some heat, some wind in the coastal districts, but it is a situation that generally gives us some tranquility” and that is why the situation of alert situation will not continue, she explained.
According to Patrícia Gaspar, “there will be no activation of any contingency or alert declaration. We are confident that the current scenario falls within the normal response capacity of the Civil Protection firefighting device,” she declared.
At the same conference the ANEPC placed Beja and Faro districts on Orange level international readiness alert and the ANEPC issued a Notification to the population of fire risk for the next 48 hours.
Alerts, warnings and notifications can be confusing – so let’s explain
A Situation of Alert like we had at some stages of Covid, is the lesser level of levels that can be issued under Civil Protection law, “Contingency” and “Calamity” being higher. This is only issued in extreme conditions, and in the case of fires and other disasters places special measures on both civil protection agents and the public.
The readiness alert is in 5 levels green to red and is the level of monitoring and operational readiness levels that the civil protection and agents such as GNR, Bombeiros need to be able to fulfil commensurate with the degree of fire risk. Purely internal, these do not involve the public. The notifications from the ANEPC are more regular for public information, based on expected weather conditions and typically we would expect around 30 – 40 a year. These can be for flooding, low temperatures, high temperatures and fire risk. These highlight the guidelines/rules/advice already in place for the public to follow
Let us hope there are less of all of these as the summer progresses.
What is most important is that everyone is prepared as we all should be. During fires it is also important to know what to do if a fire approaches your home and to monitor the progress of fires closely.
As an official Civil Protection Volunteer Organisation, we have members who are very experienced and knowledgeable of rural fires and disaster preparedness and operational management. Together with long established official contacts with the emergency services we provide regular detailed information in the event of major fires to help keep you safe.
We are very grateful to those who follow and share our Facebook posts and website. Our volunteer team undertaking this particular aspect of our work comprises. Pedro Tabula (former Bombeiros Commander); Antonio Vignolo (disaster preparedness), Fernanda Goncalves and Mike Evans (Facebook communication), Susan Wright (Website) and myself and others we can call upon.
We are always pleased to hear from you if you are able to assist in any way.
With that please have a good day.
News:
Government to increase by 325 number of professional firefighters.
Lisbon, Jul 26, 2022 (Lusa) – The Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) indicated today that the constitution of 65 new Permanent Intervention Teams (EIP) has been authorized for the voluntary fire brigades in the second half of the year, totalling 325 firefighters.
In a statement, the MAI states that 734 EIPs are currently authorized and 553 teams are operating that are a permanent professional response to civil protection risks in humanitarian firefighters associations.
According to the MAI, this authorization to sign the 65 protocols allows for the constitution of four first teams, 11 second teams, created in fire departments where an EIP already existed, 49 third teams and a fourth EIP.
The MAI states that, of the 65 new EIPs, 36 will be set up in low-density territories and states that the selection of these teams “was based on objective and verifiable criteria, established by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority and presented to the Portuguese Fire Brigade League”.
The protocols, to be concluded between the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, municipal councils and humanitarian firefighters associations, aim to improve the efficiency of Civil Protection and the conditions of prevention and assistance in the face of accidents and disasters, according to the MAI. .
Rural fire update
Newsroom, July 27, 2022 (Lusa) – The fire that broke out on Tuesday afternoon in a bush area in the parish of Covelas, municipality of Trofa (Porto), is dominated, a source from the Civil Protection told Lusa.
According to the District Command of Relief Operations (CDOS) of Porto, the fire was considered to have been subdued at 03:15.
At around 5:30 am, 167 operatives were at the scene, assisted by 54 vehicles, said the same source.
This morning, at 2:26 am, the fire that broke out on Tuesday in Bendada, in the municipality of Sabugal, in the district of Guarda, was also brought under control.
According to information available on the website of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), Portugal currently has no active fires, four in the resolution phase and 17 in the completion phase, with 871 firefighters and 275 vehicles to support these operations.
The Government decided on Tuesday that it is not necessary to reactivate the alert situation to respond to forest fires, as weather forecasts point to a “normal summer situation”.
According to forecasts from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), the next few days will be warm and windy, especially on the coast, but within what is usual during the summer.
The districts of Beja and Faro will change from red alert to orange, due to the risk of rural fires, and Braga, Porto, Viana do Castelo and Aveiro will change to blue, with moderate risk
Some PSP Police stations at risk of closing in August due to lack of personnel
It’s a vacation period and, in addition to that, there are those who are on leave”, warns the president of the Union Association of Police Professionals
In August, the closing of police stations due to lack of personnel may worsen , warns the president of the Union Association of Police Professionals (ASPP), Paulo Santos, in statements to “Diário de Notícias” . During the weekend, the largest police station in Porto was closed.
“It’s a vacation period and, in addition, there are those who are on long leave and end up decompensating the service in police stations, warns Paulo Santos, adding that this is not a problem “only in Porto or Lisbon”: “ In the Azores, for example, for months there have been police stations that have had to close the service due to lack of personnel”.
In order to combat the shortage of personnel, the Minister of Internal Administration revealed, last Monday, that mobile police stations will be created in Lisbon and Porto. “This was a very particular solution. The problem, however, is one of base and not of structure. This will be a very short-term solution, but in the long term, it doesn’t make any sense”, says Paulo Santos.