Portugal's biggest wildfire: 'We all thought we were going to die'
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ม.ค. 2025
- On 17 June, a fire swept through the forests of central Portugal, killing 64 people and destroying more than 480 houses.
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After a summer of record numbers of wildfires across southern Europe, the Guardian travelled to devastated villages in Portugal to find out why the June fire was so deadly, and what can be done to prevent it happening again
*Satellite imagery courtesy of Deimos Imaging, an UrtheCast Company
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#portugalwildfires #wildfires #heatwave #climatechange #wildfireseurope
This is a brilliant account of the drama that engulfed the people of Pedrógão Grande, Nodeirinho and the other villages affected by the wildfire. It also shows the strategies followed by them to cope with the tragedy. And the advice of Father Cruz seems much more sensible than the measures suggested by alleged experts on Portuguese TV.
i live in figuera a village next to noderirinho but i was on holiday when it happened
we pray for all of España and Portugal...
Truly sorry for lost :(
Greetings from Estambul
You can actually see the pain in the people's faces. Terrible
LESS Eucalyptus and MORE Oaks, Chestnut trees and Cypresses! Paper industry is destroying everything....
foram os eucaliptos que se incendiaram uns aos outros?
ou será que não foi mão criminosa? enfim, tristes mentalidades.
Problem it's not eucalyptus, but some businesses related to fires.
Eu já vi dois tipos a incendiarem uma floresta num carro em andamento, um conduzia enquanto o outro atirava objectos que incendiavam o mato. Tudo é feito a grande velocidade. Foi no distrito de Castelo Branco, um carro vermelho, parecia um Seat Ibiza.
nao, nao foram, mas havendo criminosos como ha (as verdadeiras tristes mentalidades). o melhor e reduzir os eucaliptos e plantar mais arvores de folha caduca, que criam mais sombra, que nao deixam secar o solo. e os fogos, quando os há sao facilmente controlaveis pois nao andam no ar a passar de arvore em arvore .
a verdade é que o eucalipto destroi os nossos ecosistemas e só causam problemas. outras arvores, carvalhos, faias, castanhas... arvores que alimentam a fauna e a flora.
Forgot to mention the Eucalyptus and the paper industry huge lobby... Millions os €uros
I was there . I experienced this in June 2017 . I was lucky , lots of stuff burned but my house survived and the cat made a recovery too. Not all of our neighbours were so lucky. I feel the pain of those people in the video.
as Portuguese, I have to say that the greatest tragedy of Pedrogão Grande, was the fact that the president of the Pedrogão Grand town hall have diverted all the goods that were provided not only by portugal but by europe. Food, clothing and above all money. Now he's being tried
I remember when my village in Portugal was surrendered by the fire, we were very lucky, the firefighters unfortunately couldn't help us because there were to many fires in the villages nearby, so we had to fight ourselves until help arrived, for 48h nobody slept everyone fought until finally others villages came to pur help and later the firefighters. Again we were very lucky and my heart goes to everyone in Pedrogão Grande, you went through so much I can't even imagine 💔
One day when i was in vacation, i told my old neighbour about the fire. she told that my village (Girabolhos, Guarda, portugal) was surrounded by the wildfire and all roads were blocked by the fire! no one could leave the village. and lucky the fire didnt burn a house.
And in October of the same year we got hit again but this time by almost all over the country, a record of 1000 fires or more... I was in a bar and was so hot at 00:00. It was raining ashes, in October when normally is raining...
we need geoengineering. its the only solution, Ye Tao's method is the best
I was there on holiday only a few hundred metres away from it the whole sky was black and i had nightmares every day
This video is one more lost opportunity to call out the real reasons for these uncontrollable fires. Today, one in each three square meters of forest in Portugal is Eucalyptus; this is a higher rate than in Australia, from where these trees are originary. And what is not covered with Eucalyptus is covered with Maritime Pines, Acacias and other short fire cycle forests.
An important thing to understand: none of those Eucalyptus you see burned in this video actually died - they are still alive and will growth even faster coming next Spring. The Maritime Pines may die with fire, but their seeds are boosted by the flames; a new denser an stronger Maritime Pine forest follows.
Which is the greatest tragedy: the fires or the reluctance of media in reporting these facts? Next time you buy paper for your printer or wood pellets for your stove think about this video.
Real reason - Climate Change.
@@johnsarab4500No that's not the sole reason Im sorry
We have hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of Eucalyptus throughout this country. And the measures we see being taken are regarding trees that are on the side of the road - policies to cut those trees even in situations where it is not needed; and cleansing recomendations that are not thoroughly followed. It's hard to prevent the criminals from commiting these crimes but it would be gold to see measures being taken towards a forest management that keeps wilfire damage to a minimum. Eucalyptus can make a fire run up to 30 km/h and it's leaves can reach 2km, compared to Oak tree leaf that can only travel 200m. It's very frustrating to know this and yet watch a government consistently do nothing throughout the years
Now make part 2, after years, government officials held on to all the donations and donated goods and no help was actually given
I'm scared. Fire is my third worst way to die after drowning and buried alive.
it is even slower in a drowning
We were on holiday during it and we looked and we were quite close because we looked over and we saw smoke and a bright glow over the hills. There was also loads of ashes all over our house. Horrible.
3:36 the priest has studied fires - he has some sensible ideas
There is no agriculture policy in portugal to utilize the abandoned land which overgrows.
When the mountains were full of goats and sheep, and people harvested the heather to increase the fertility of their gardens there wasnt the fuel for the catastrophic fires we see today.
There are laws in place that owners must take responsibilty to keep their land clean and free of overgrown tinder, but few do.
Rural depopulation has exacerbated the problem and made those left behind vulnerable to fires.
This problem needs to be addressed from many different angles, simultaneously. Rural land management has to change to counter the effects of climate and cultural change.
Tudo bom rapazes e todos com boas ideias mas a porcaria está entranhada nos dirigentes nacionais, contínua-se a plantar desordenadamente as autoridades não podem autuar os infractores (dá-se mais valor ao lithium que aos habitantes)
Para além das características anormais destes incêndios,podiam-se ter poupado algumas vidas se os agentes responsáveis pela protecção civil no seu todo, tivessem tido uma actuação rápida e coordenada,mas enfim...quero ver para o próximo verão se esta tragédia ensinou alguma coisa...
As vezes as coisas nao sao assim tao lineares. Falta de acessos, estradas bloqueadas e falta de acesso a recursos naturais (agua) na zona. Olha para california, aparentemente mais "avancados" mas com os mesmos problemas. Havemos de la chegar... de uma forma ou de outra.
"the Guardian travelled to devastated villages in Portugal to find out why the June fire was so deadly, and what can be done to prevent it happening again" - And your main source was... a priest? Could you have talked to, I don't know, foresters, meteorologists, fire management specialists? Your take-home message is that everybody should have their own fire fighting engine, are you serious?
They pointed out that with young people exiting and such a large rural area to defend, formal fighters aren't reliable or effective. in rural Portugal, it seems the communities will have to rely on themselves for protection. if you'd like to hear more about how a fire crew operates or the effects of global warming on the situation there are plenty of resources for that.
Thank you for your comment. It's precisely because many of these villages have just a handful of old people that the suggestion that they could simply defend themselves is silly. Also, most live on very small pensions, there is no way they can afford the equipment (even if they had the stamina to use it). I wasn't expecting to hear more about "how a fire crew operates or the effects of global warming". I was hoping for more info on "why the June fire was so deadly" (it seems to have spread exceptionally fast, catching people by surprise - was this a freak set of meteorological conditions? what are the odds of it repeating itself?) and "what can be done to prevent it happening again" (in my view, Portugal needs better and more effective resources to tackle forest fires as soon as they start, particularly by investing in early detection and early mobilisation of aerial resources; also needs better warning systems). Whereas I have some ideas/opinions about this (and I know the region well), I was hoping to learn more from people with better knowledge than mine, for example contrasting the approaches in different countries. Which is why I am suprised to see most discussion coming from a single person, presented as a specialist when he clearly isn't. Seems like lazy journalism to me, and quite a disappointment coming from the Guardian.
Gostei deste seu comentário,só queria acrescentar que para além de tudo o que mencionou,também precisamos muito de gente com empenho profissional,e que se dediquem à causa quando assumem funções!
the answer is easy. you don't need to have a bunch of intelligent people to explain 1 easy thing
@@forrestl5597 That's the main problem... Most people in Portugal blame the Eucalypts, the tree industry or some ramdom madmen that will fire up the forest. But the main reason is central Portugal is very very dry, it's above 40 degrees for almost 6 monts and it isn't very populated.
The problem has been answered since the 90's with the same formula but year after year some big area is burnt
Perhaps it's time to address the problem in another way...
So tragic. I feel for the people so much 😢
We all need to learn from mistakes. Every time i see this kind on news, the images are all the same. Huge trees almost touching the houses, bushes and flamable materials near the houses. We all need to start preventing this to happen again. And that's what a did. 10 years ago my house, in the middle of the florest, almost burn because i had trees on my backyard. From them i cut and clean everything and guess what? This year we had another fire, a huge one but without any consequences! The fire passed and did't burn a thing!
Forget the "miracles" just clean everything and get ready!
there are not enough population in those areas to "clean everything". if this fire would be close to lisbon, probably wouldn't have this tragedy in it. But it was not. the big underlying propblem is the huge desertification portugal is passing by. around 90% of the population lives close to the ocean. why? no jobs, no investment, people go to the big cities or abroad to get a job. cleaning is important, but i do think is not even the main issue.
É possível ter mais bombeiros e mais meios de combate aos incêndios. Começa pelo combate à corrupção, por uma legislação realista e aplicada de forma séria na gestão do património florestal. Não houve meios por anos e anos de incúria.
além de que menos e menos querem ser bombeiros
Shame our country fails in so many this, yet wants to pass the image that Portugal is amazing with no problems. Our politicians say the same thing over and over but never do anything.
eduarda Costa também és Português
Wild fires happen everywhere, not only in Portugal, just look at what happened in Greece this year.
April 2020, and no new policy. Eucalyptus and Pine still not being replaced
I'm Portuguese and my friend live in Pedrógão
Portugal é uma imensa floresta com incontaveis aldeias metidas dentro do mato... Todos os veroes vemos tragedias como esta. Lamentavel e triste.
i’ve been to portugal twice
I was there
💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
This was the worst natural disaster since the earthquake who destroy the city of Lisbon.
😭
Alguém sabe como contactar o Sr. Padre José António da Cruz? Obrigado!
That's a lie! I would love to work over there doing a forestry/ land management job.
Bad sad mad
Yall need to read your Holy Books...even KJV Biblos describes the horrors the children of Adam and Lilth will face for their partake in The Massacres of the Innocents.
Terrible translation.
Oh deer
how many animals died
Troika policies in part.
The road of dead...
Wait up Europe. We just had longest eclipse of the moon in last 100 years or so. This is a basic equation and that means something is here.
Jesus e sou de pourtugal gaia
Octobre 15-17 … not June
ALL VICTIMS R I P AMEN
A Gerinçonça mata
Isto não tem nada a ver com a Geringonça (ou só com a Geringonça), tem a ver com todos os governos desde o 25 de abril que tomaram decisões irresponsáveis em relação à organização florestal e paisagistica de Portugal.
E a cegueira também...
What is "our lady"? Who is she? What did her for those people?
"Our Lady" is false, a catholic invencion just to earn money, it doesn't exist. Bible(God's word) says that there are no other gods, there is only one God.
O que é a "nossa senhora"? Quem é? O que é que ela fez por aquelas pessoas?
A "nossa senhora" é uma mentira, uma invenção católica só para fazer dinheiro, não existe. A Bíblia(a palavra de Deus) diz que não há outros deuses, apenas existe um Deus.
deixe ao menos a fé para as pessoas que ficam sem a terra, sem a vida, por causa de corruptos satânicos que só se importam com o lucro. Comentário estúpido meter a culpa na N. Senhora, humanismo da porra querer castigar vitimas com a sua religião
If you lived in a poor country for years like Portugal was and if you were educated by religion like most of the portuguese population you wouldn't be saying that. If you were in that situation you would do the same. I'm not a religious person. Neither am I an atheist. I respect religion and the influence it has on my country.
Livre arbítrio é algo que supostamente nos foi dado por Deus. Deixe as pessoas acreditarem no que quiserem, respeite as crenças de cada um. O desrespeito pela fé alheia e a tentativa de imposição de uma religião tida como a única correta causou e ainda causa muitas vítimas.
LOL
C. Lincoln if you were there like me and all the other Portuguese you wouldn’t say lol you would cry