Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Portugal forest fire kills at least 62 people
PEDROGAO GRANDE, Portugal — A forest fire in central Portugal killed at least 62 people as they tried to flee, charring cars and trucks as it swept over roads. The disaster — the worst tragedy Portugal has experienced in decades — shook the nation, with the president declaring that the country’s pain “knows no end.”
The initial blaze started Saturday, and the flames spread along four fronts with “great violence,” said Jorge Gomes, secretary of state for internal administration. By Sunday afternoon, five blazes were raging in central Portugal, he said.
Police and firefighters were searching charred areas of the forest and isolated homes, looking for more bodies.
“It is a time of pain but also … a time to carry on the fight” against the flames, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told the nation in a televised address Sunday evening after the government declared three days of national mourning.
“So many deaths represent an almost unprecedented tragedy in the history of democratic Portugal,” the president said.
At least 30 people died in vehicles, with more bodies found near cars on the side of a road and others in rural areas near Pedrogao Grande, Gomes said in comments broadcast Sunday by RTP. According to an initial analysis by the Judicial Police, the fire was caused by a dry thunderstorm, Gomes said. Government officials said an assessment will be made of the cause.
A wall of thick smoke and bright red flames towered over the tops of trees in the forested Pedrogao Grande area, 95 miles northeast of Lisbon where a lightning strike was believed to have sparked the blaze Saturday. Investigators found a tree that was hit during a “dry thunderstorm,” the head of the national judicial police said.
Dry thunderstorms are frequent when falling water evaporates before reaching the ground because of high temperatures. Portugal is prone to forest fires in the dry summer months and temperatures as high as 105 hit the area in recent days.
At least four other significant wildfires were burning Sunday elsewhere in Portugal but the one in Pedrogao Grande was responsible for all the deaths.
“The dimensions of this fire have caused a human tragedy beyond any in our memory,” said Prime Minister Antonio Costa told reporters as he arrived at the scene Sunday. “Something extraordinary has taken place and we have to wait for experts to properly determine its causes.”
Interior Minister Constanca Urbano de Sousa said the death toll had risen to 62 by the end of Sunday. She said the country’s judicial police was expecting to complete the identification of the bodies soon in order to release them as early as possible.
Gomes said firefighting crews were having difficulties battling the fire, which was “very intense” in at least two of its four fronts. He said authorities were worried about strong winds that could help spread the blaze further.
More than 350 soldiers Sunday joined the 700 firefighters who have been working to put out the blaze, schools in the area were closed until further notice and outdoor fires were banned.
The forest fire deaths were the biggest in memory in Portugal, which saw 25 Portuguese soldiers die fighting wildfires in 1966. Last August, an outbreak of fires across Portugal killed four people, including three on the island of Madeira, and destroyed huge areas of forest.
Isabel Brandao said Sunday that she had feared for her life when she saw the Pedrogao Grande blaze.
“Yesterday, we saw the fire but thought it was very far. I never thought it would come to this side,” she said. “At 3:30 a.m., my mother-in-law woke me up quickly and we never went to sleep again.” Others were also shocked. “This is a region that has had fires because of its forests, but we cannot remember a tragedy of these proportions,” said Valdemar Alves, the mayor of Pedrogao Grande. “I am completely stunned by the number of deaths.”
State broadcaster RTP showed images of several people on a road trying to escape the intense smoke that had reduced visibility to a few yards.
Several houses were destroyed by the flames. Portuguese television showed people scrambling to leave their homes early Sunday, escorted by firefighters and other rescue teams, as huge flames consumed hamlets across the dry terrain.
Several roads were cut off by flames and thick smoke as firefighters tried to prevent the flames from spreading.
Gomes gave a grim description of the deaths to RTP. He said at least 30 people died inside their cars as they tried to flee between the towns of Figueiro dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera. He said 17 others died outside their cars or by the road, 11 people died in the forest, two people died in a car accident related to the fire and information was missing on the other deaths.
Gomes said 54 people were also injured in the fire, five of them seriously, including four firefighters and a minor.
Costa tweeted his “deepest regret for the victims … and a word of encouragement and strength for all who help combat this scourge.”
“We are most likely facing the biggest tragedy of human life that we have known,” he said.
The government set up centers near the scene to help people who lost their homes and some nearby schools will remain closed for now, Costa said in Pedrogao Grande on Sunday in comments broadcast by RTP. Some villages were evacuated as the fire remains active, he said. There has been no failure in communications, the premier said.
Gomes urged people to stay away from the scene. “This tragedy also happened because of curiosity,” he said.
There was no immediate identification of the victims. Portugal established a special diplomatic channel for embassies to receive information on foreign citizens who “may be affected.”
About 1,600 firefighters, assisted by planes and helicopters, were working to contain the blaze. Police and military units were called in to help, and European Union officials in Brussels activated the bloc’s civil protection mechanism to send reinforcements.
Spain sent four firefighting aircraft Sunday, France was sending three and Greece’s prime minister also offered firefighting help.
Many world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Pope Francis and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressed solidarity with Portugal. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy tweeted that he was “overwhelmed by the tragedy at Pedrogao Grande. The Portuguese people can count on our solidarity, support and care.”
Pedro Passos Coelho, a former premier and leader of the opposition Social Democrats, suspended his political agenda.
In Kazan, Russia, Portugal’s national soccer team wore black arm bands and stood for a moment of silence with the Mexican team in solidarity with the forest fire victims. The ceremony took place before the teams’ match Sunday at the Confederations Cup tournament.
Coach Fernando Santos, Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the players released a statement saying “in this sad hour, we send our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and loved ones of the victims of the fires.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, attending the match in Russia, also offered his condolences.
“We want to send a big hug to everyone in Portugal for what they are going through, which is absolutely terrible. There are no words for that,” he told reporters.