Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 4^th September 2024

Good afternoon everyone, I make no apology that this feature is devoted solely to aerial firefighting. Without doubt this has been a very sad week with the death of a full team of (GNR-UEPS) Emergency Protection and Rescue Unit UEPS soldiers, in a helicopter accident in the Douro, whilst they were returning from a mission. The only survivor was the pilot, despite the helicopter crashing into the water at a speed of 185 km/h.

Only that morning we had pointed out a few hours before the accident that aerial firefighting is a highly specialized field of knowledge and skill requiring years of education and thousands of hours of flight time.

Many operators of aerial firefighting equipment say that aerial firefighters are “firefighters first and pilots” second. This means that the specialized knowledge of how fires spread and how to contain it using aircraft is critical to being an aerial firefighter.

Finding water to fight wildfires, dipping the specialized bucket slung below a helicopter into water source, low-level flying, precision navigation, and managing helicopter stability with varying water weights and releasing over fires. This requires considerable skills, and bravery and is without doubt one of the most dangerous means of firefighting.

This is not the first time a firefighting helicopter has crashed. A helicopter fighting a fire in Castro Daire, Viseu, crashed on Sunday 20th August 2017, killing the pilot, Américo Sousa, aged 51 years. The helicopter crashed into high-voltage cables, and burned, and the pilot was trapped in the helicopter. The helicopter had just dropped off a GNR GIPS team at a fire at Cabril, Castro Daire. A very lucky escape for them.

Two years later a light rural firefighting helicopter crashed on Wednesday 4th September 2019 as it was taking off from the Aircraft Centre in Pampilhosa da Serra. Inside the helicopter were five military personnel from the Protection and Relief Intervention Group (GIPS), one of whom suffered minor injuries. According to the Coimbra CDOS, the pilot belonged to an external company. According to a statement from the ANEPC, the aircraft “suffered significant material damage

And, in September in 2022 a helicopter that was fighting a fire in Amares was involved in an accident. The aircraft had hit a high voltage cable, in the Paranhos area, and ended up crashing. The pilot was “seriously injured, with several injuries and fractures, namely in the lower limbs and pelvic area”. There were no other crew members.

And it is not just helicopters, in July 2022 a FireBoss amphibious plane, from the Centro de Meios Aereos de Viseu, assigned to the Special Device for Fighting Rural Fires,” crashed killing the pilot André Serra aged 30.

Following his death we highlighted on Facebook the dangers of areal firefighters namely: This is incredibly difficult and dangerous work and they have shown their worth being the first to arrive at many fires, especially those where accessibility is difficult: Why is it dangerous? – Strong and frequently changing wind conditions – Dodging electricity pylons and wires – Collecting water from tight spaces – Flying in low visibility in hilly terrain with changing atmospheric conditions – The presence of ash – In high heat under considerable pressure in complicated fires

At the time of this accident Civil Protection indicated that in the last two decades, six Portuguese pilots who participated in firefighting operations had died in about a dozen accidents.

This latest accident is by far however the most sever and tragic in terms of the death toll – a complete UEPS fire- fighting team.

Just three days following the latest accident an INEM helicopter crashed resulting in minor injuries to the four crew members. The cause of the accident has yet to be established.

When you next thank firefighters for all the work they do in fighting fires please remember to give a special thank you to those pilots and crew that fight fires from the air. They are often to first to arrive at the outbreak of fires and operate without back-up until reinforcements arrive – without doubt they are true heroes!

Our team wishes you all the best for the week ahead

News

After all, the replacement helicopter for INEM is stopped for maintenance

The reserve helicopter provided for in the contract between INEM and Avincis is undergoing scheduled maintenance and, therefore, there was no replacement within 24 hours, an official source from the company said today.

The reserve aircraft of the same model, AW139, is undergoing scheduled maintenance. We are seeking to complete this work as quickly as possible, taking into account that safety is our main priority. However, another AW139 helicopter remains in operation, in addition to two AW109s”, an official source from the operator for the assistance helicopter service told Lusa.

The issue at hand is the replacement of the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) helicopter that suffered an accident in the municipality of Mondim de Basto.

The accident occurred at 12:55 on Monday, at the time when the AW139 aircraft – based at the Macedo de Cavaleiros base – was preparing to land in Mondim de Basto to assist a person injured in a work accident in a quarry.

There were four crew members on board – pilot, co-pilot, doctor and nurse – who, according to information provided after the accident by INEM, were transported to Vila Real Hospital as a precaution and have already been discharged from hospital.

INEM revealed today in a statement that the equipment had not yet been replaced, despite the fact that the contract for the lease, management and maintenance of aerial resources with Avincis provides for this replacement within a period of 24 hours.

“We are working with INEM on a plan to be able to resume service in Macedo de Cavaleiros as quickly as possible”, assured the same company source, adding that Avincis helicopters at the service of INEM were activated 474 times in the first half of 2024 and 1,146 times last year for emergency assistance.

Lusa also asked Avincis about INEM’s request to ensure the reinforcement of the pilot teams at the Viseu base, in order to allow the emergency helicopter based there to operate 24 hours a day and not just during the 12-hour day shift, but, to date, it has not been possible to obtain this clarification from the company.

The medical emergency device contracted between INEM and Avincis consists of two helicopters operating in 24-hour shifts – from the bases of Macedo de Cavaleiros and Loulé – and another two helicopters in 12-hour shifts, based at the bases of Viseu and Évora.

With this accident, rescue via INEM helicopters is reduced to three aircraft and only one on a permanent basis, only in the southern region of the country.

 

 

 

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 28^th August 2024

 

Good afternoon. The 5.3 Magnitude earthquake on Monday morning 60 kms west of Sines is a reminder that Portugal is at risk of earthquakes. This was the largest in terms of Magnitude since the magnitude earthquake in 1969. On that occasion, the epicentre was 200 kilometres from Sagres and had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter Scale. At least 13 people died.

The earthquake on Monday, despite being very shallow at 17 kms, there were no reported injuries or damage, although it was felt by many people. If the epicentre had been closer to the shore or on the mainland itself it could have been a different matter. A total of 5662 reports of people feeling the earthquake were made to Volcano Discover and over 10,000 to the IPMA. We thank the over 350 people who commented on our FB posts on how the earthquake effected them.

Thank you to our team member Fernanda Goncalves for posting on our Facebook page the information just 17 minutes following the earthquake occurring! Some 30 minutes later it was announced on social media by ANEPC and nearly 3 hours later by IPMA. However IPMA had earlier placed details on their website and Lusa News agency published this at O546 hrs

The earthquake illustrates the importance of knowing what action to take during and after an earthquake something we at Safe Communities Portugal do at regular intervals, including of course the “A Terra Treme” annual earthquake exercise held in November. A reminder of action to take can be found here. It also highlight the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of properties in Portugal that do not have earthquake resilience, especially those built before 1958.

In monitoring the Madeira fires over the last 12 days we have read perhaps hundreds of interviews regarding the progress of combatting the fire, coming from journalist, officials and political leaders including parish, municipal and regional leaders. Often we have identified contradictions, and sometimes press releases made at similar times, with different content.

However, standing out amongst these, in a most positive way, was the mayor of Santana Dinarte Fernandes who on Saturday argued that “conclusions must be drawn from the fight against the fire on the island of Madeira, warning that without national and European resources it would have been difficult to control the situation”.

He added “that without the resources made available by the Republic, namely the special firefighting team, and then the activation of the European resource with aircraft, it would be very difficult to have the situation in the Autonomous Region of Madeira under control”.

Dinarte Fernandes argued that “political and technical leaders”, whether in the forestry sector or in Civil Protection, “must draw conclusions so that situations like these can be addressed and dealt with more quickly”.

“We cannot allow the repercussions of a fire that starts on the other side of the island to be like this. We have all understood this. We spent 20 years saying that helicopters would not work, but in the end they do and they work. We spent another 20 years saying that Canadairs and fixed wing aircraft would not work, but in the end they do,” he said.

The Mayor stressed that there will always be “a risk of fire” in the forest, but argued that it is necessary to “think about the type of forest we want” for the future.

“We need to be more realistic on these issues and try out the solutions that the world offers us to fight fires and not be so parochial to the point of thinking that we have all the solutions here,” he added.

Madeira’s Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Plan ceases to be in force this Tuesday.

Our team at Safe Communities wishes you a safe week ahead

News and Features

How did Portugal manage to reduce the number of fires in just six years?

Tiago Oliveira, president of AGIF, highlights the importance of local awareness-raising work and advocates the creation of an interoperability mechanism in fire-fighting at European level.

More than 100 people have died and 500,000 hectares of land have been burned. This scenario has not been repeated in Portugal since 2017, the year in which the deadliest and most devastating fires were recorded in the country.

Since then, the number of forest fires has been reduced by more than half , mainly thanks to a campaign to prevent risky behaviour, promoted by the Agency for Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF), within the scope of the Integrated Management System of Rural Fires (SGIFR).

“We started working after 2017. Portuguese society was very traumatized by the issue of fires and in the first year of the campaign in 2018, we focused on a clearer message: ‘Portugal is calling for you’, because it was necessary to call on all Portuguese people to reduce the number of fires”, says Tiago Oliveira, president of the board of directors of AGIF, in statements to Euronews.

According to Tiago Oliveira, an average of 20,000 fires broke out in Portugal per year before 2019 and last year there were 7,000.

“This was achieved through a communications campaign on television, in newspapers and on the radio, and through measures to improve the effectiveness of the campaign, providing alternatives to people who needed to use fire to eliminate agricultural waste, providing a number that allowed people to call and ask for help to burn or ask whether they could burn or not”, explains the technician, highlighting that there was a change in the behaviour of the Portuguese in terms of the negligent use of fire.

“This year, the strategy will involve and is involving personalized door-to-door contacts, through the National Republican Guard, for example. It is involving greater involvement, now with the Ministry of Education, with campaigns in schools, between the ages of five and 12, with the ‘ Raposa Chama ‘ project that will mobilize around half a million students over the next five years”, explains Tiago Oliveira.

According to data released on Monday by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), the year 2024 will have, up until August 15, the lowest number of fires and the lowest area burned since 2014. In total, there have already been 3,485 rural fires this year.

Even so, August is already the month with the largest area burned in 2024 and doubled the figures for July. From 1 to 15 August, 3,484 hectares burned, while in the previous month the fires had consumed an area of ​​1,582 hectares. The area burned in these first two weeks corresponds to 44% of the total area burned this year in mainland Portugal (7,949 hectares).

Comparing the figures for 2024 with the previous 10 years, there were 58% fewer rural fires and 87% fewer burnt areas compared to the annual average for the same period.

“This year, 2024, we have 3,500 fires, which is a relatively relevant record, because people have also consolidated this knowledge in rural areas. There was also a mild summer, we didn’t have as much drought and, therefore, all the sparks don’t start fires”, explains the president of AGIF.

According to the “State of Wildfires” report published in the journal Earth System Science Data, from March 2023 to February 2024, the fires were contained in size in Europe, devastating only 8,400 square kilometres, but resulted in the interruption of water supplies, damage to infrastructure or agricultural land, with impacts on tourism and local economies.

According to data from the World Bank, forest fires caused losses of 77 billion euros in Europe in 2023.

Tiago Oliveira argues that Europe needs an “interoperability mechanism so that forces from neighbouring countries can operate in the same way”.

“It is not enough to send air assets from one country to another. When the air assets arrive, they must be coordinated with the forces on the ground and they must work with common mechanisms. Canada and the United States do this very well and Europe can take inspiration from this model,” he argues.

Furthermore, the AGIF president believes that policy coordination is necessary. “In particular, using the Common Agricultural Policy , which allows farmers to better manage their forests, and bringing more attention from the Common Agricultural Policy to abandoned land, to agricultural practices that do not generate fire and allow vegetation to always be treated,” he adds.

To date, the fire in Evros , northeastern Greece, in August last year is the largest ever recorded in the European Union. It burned 938 square kilometres in one go, setting a new record for the old continent.

 

 

 

 

 

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 21^st August 2024

 

Good morning. We start and end with the Madeira fires which have been burning for eight days days. There has been widespread concern among the Madeira population and some firefighting experts that the Madeira government was slow to react when the fire broke out last Wednesday. Jorge Mendes, commander and specialist in Civil Protection, stated on Monday that:  “When we put off the problem, it leads us to scenarios like these.” He sees the current operational situation as the result of an “underestimation” of the first signs that this fire would reach dramatic proportions. It lead to the evacuation of several points in the Autonomous Region”.

He adds that “this fire had characteristics very similar to previous fires, the operational decision should have taken into account the historical assessment of Madeira, the temperature and the wind speed”. In this case, “it is not normal to have temperatures above 30 degrees and gusts of 65 km/h”. “All of this led us to believe that if there were a fire outbreak, we would have a lot of difficulties”.

The fire chief’s opinion is echoed by several other civil protection experts who note how there should have been a “more muscular” response in the first hours when the flames began to be contained in the high areas of Ribeira Brava, on Wednesday. However, the topography in Madeira is very steep, which makes accessibility very difficult if not impossible except by air, when wind conditions allow.

On the mainland we have become used to this “muscular approach”, where the response to fires is very quick with additional resources being deployed, to try and avoid fires increasing in intensity and spreading to a point when situation becomes out of control as is happening now in Madeiria. For the first day in the Madeira fire one helicopter (the only one available) with less than 20 operatives were deployed. The delay in the Madeira government accepting assistance offered by the mainland, allowed the fire to develop further.

The Minister of Internal Administration said yesterday the Government “will evaluate” the request for permanent reinforcement of aerial resources to fight fires in Madeira, but also highlighted that it is still premature to make this analysis. In SCP’s view the current situation of just one helicopter is totally inadequate! What would happened if it was down for maintenance or otherwise inoperable?

President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, defended, this Wednesday, the need to “lower the alarmist rhetoric” because the “situation is safe” and the authorities are “doing what they have to do” in fighting the fire that has been ravaging the region for about a week. No homes or infrastructures were destroyed, considering that, in the fight against the fire, “the results are positive”.

However the National Civil Protection Union today demanded accountability and calls for the resignation of the president of the Regional Civil Protection Service, António Nunes, and the regional secretary for Civil Protection, Pedro Ramos.

There is certainly a need for a review (as I am sure there will be), to address the effects of climate change with higher temperatures, more intense fires, to focus on preparedness and to enable a more muscular approach when fires ignite – as they will in the future.

Unfortunately there are many tourists who continue to disregard the signs that determine the closure of hiking trails due to the fires that are ravaging in Madeira. As previously reported, the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation (IFCN) advises against traveling in mountain areas.

A reminder if you are visiting Madeira to download the Civil Protection recommend that you download their ProCiv Madeira (Emergency) App, especially with the RURAL FIRE situation at present. The Regional Civil Protection Service, IP-RAM, advises the entire population and visitors to download our application, considering it an added value in providing assistance.

When you call 112 via the app, the control centre will receive your last known position as well as a personalized profile for you. You will also be notified with recommendations for weather warnings and real-time information such as fires and road closures. More details here: https://www.procivmadeira.pt/pt/galeria-de-imagens-3.html?

 

News

Madeira fire analysis

Forest fire expert Domingos Xavier Viegas advocated the use of more aerial resources to combat fires like the one raging in Madeira, as well as more land resources to consolidate extinction.

Air combat must be carried out with at least pairs of planes, if possible more, so that there is a more frequent sequence of discharges and that allow the fire to be attacked and extinguished”, stressed, in statements to the Lusa news agency, the director of the Forest Fire Studies Laboratory.

When asked about the fire in Madeira , the expert stressed that a single combat air vehicle “loses effectiveness” in a fire that is difficult to access for ground vehicles and has several fronts, because while it goes to refuel after attacking one area of ​​the fire, the fire “continues to progress”.

Xavier Viegas also defended more land resources to “consolidate the extinction” of fronts that are being fought through the air.

If we don’t go there and complete the extinguishing process, which is carried out by air discharge with ground combat (…) that fire will quickly reignite because, even the chemical product that was released, after some time may lose its extinguishing capacity”, he stressed.

For the expert, “fighting has to be done by anticipating what the fire will do and trying to find containment zones that can help contain the fire”, pointing out that a fire that has been burning for “so many days certainly did not require many human resources, for the perimeter it has, of several kilometers”.

Another point of concern identified by the forest fire specialist is the “secondary outbreaks”, highlighting that, sometimes, the fire “may be descending a slope and spreading towards the opposite valley, with this outbreak rising with much greater intensity and, sometimes, upon reaching the top of the slope, it may even spread towards the next valley”.

Xavier Viegas also pointed out the climate change recorded in Madeira , with lower humidity and more periods of high temperatures, highlighting the importance of “cleaning vegetation, removing the most flammable vegetation and when this is not enough, complementing it with protective measures”.

The director of the Forest Fire Studies Laboratory also said that it is important to learn lessons from this “already large-scale fire”, to understand “to what extent everything possible is being done to prevent the fire from spreading, so that there are areas where it can be contained”.

Data from the European Forest Fire Information System, indicated by the president of the Regional Civil Protection Service, António Nunes, indicate that 4,392 hectares of area had been burned by 12:00 on Tuesday.

 

 

 

Portugal Safety and Security Report 13^th August 2024

 

Good afternoon – Well it had to happen! And by this I am referring to the two fires in Braganca one at, Vimioso and the other at the Montesinho Natural Park, which have been burning since Saturday 10^th August. The fires were initially contained but then re-ignited. At the time of writing both are now under conclusion.

Earlier the Civil protection authority announced preventive measures people should take over the following days, stating that they foresee: “the occurrence and spread of rural fires, highlighting “the increase in the difficulty of suppressing fires, especially in interior North and Centre and in the Algarve”.

This is a point that we have constantly stressed referring to the Fire Weather Index (FWI), which is an indicator of the potential intensity and spread of fires. This is why we publish on Facebook each morning the FWI map, which over the last few days has clearly shown the FWI at EXTREME level in the north east of the mainland Bragança and Guarda in particular.

The FWI indicates intensity of potential fires by combining the rate of fire spread with the amount of fuel being consumed, taking into account temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, precipitation, drought conditions, fuel availability, vegetation characteristics and topography.

Critical’ fires are defined as those covering an area greater than 10,000 ha and are challenging to extinguish until air temperatures fall and precipitation increases. They are typically associated with ‘extreme’ fire danger, which is an FWI of over 50. This is the case in the two fire areas concerned but the area burned is not known.

We cannot stress enough therefore the importance for everyone to study these maps and other information and be prepared. The fire in the Montesinho Natural Park resulted in environment has been destroyed comprising large area of scrubland, as well as chestnut and oak trees. The fire had threatened two villages but it was not necessary to evacuate the population.

On a more general note the number of rural fires reached its highest level this year in July, with 1,082 occurrences, almost double the 596 rural fires recorded in June, and was also responsible for the largest area burned this year. Even so, the 1,082 rural fires in July is well below the average for the decade 2014-2023 for the same period, which was 2,193.

Safe Communities receives many enquiries on all sorts of crime and civil protection matters. This include requests from people overseas claiming that they have been a victim of crime perpetrated in Portugal. For example the victim residing overseas claims that he/she is a victim of on-line fraud, the fraudster being in Portugal. Sometimes personal details of the alleged fraudster are provided. The victim then asks Safe Communities either to make a complaint to the police here on their behalf, or take other actions.

I need to make this clear that we are not a law enforcement agency nor do we conduct investigations of any sort, that is the work of the police!

We have discussed this with the relevant unit of the Judicial Police, and they have confirmed our understanding that if you are the victim of a crime whilst overseas, or living overseas, then you should report this to your local police station there. They are responsible for receiving the crime complaint and conducting investigations which could include contacting the police, through the official channels, in the country where the culprit may be living.

We wish you a safe week ahead.

News

Algarve’s Benagil caves with new access rules starting today

Lagoa, Faro, 13 Aug 2024 (Lusa) – The Benagil Caves, in the municipality of Lagoa, in the Algarve, have new access rules as of today, which include the prohibition of disembarking and swimming access to their interior.

The new measures, which aim to regulate the traffic of maritime-tourist vessels, private individuals and beach users, both in the water and in the vicinity of the Benagil cave and sinkhole, were published in an official notice on July 30.

It is now forbidden for individuals and companies to disembark or use the sand inside the Benagil cave, access to the caves by swimming or with flotation devices, and the rental of kayaks without a guide in the cave area.

There are also limits on the number of boats and kayaks inside the cave, maximum times for visits and a ratio of one guide kayak for every six kayaks with visitors for kayak tours in the area.

There are also provisions for administrative offences (fines), which in the most serious cases can reach up to 216,000 euros, for operators of maritime-tourist vessels who do not comply with the rules set out in the notice.

Located off Benagil beach, the caves are considered to be a relevant natural heritage site and one of the main tourist attractions in the Algarve, which, in the summer, has attracted the interest of more and more visitors, especially by sea.

The notice, which comes into force 10 working days after its publication, resulted from the work developed by the Benagil Caves Working Group, formed in August 2023.