One of two commissioned reports on the devastating and fatal fires of June 17th at Pedrógão Grande and Góis, has been delivered to parliament by the head of the Independent Technical Committee, João Guerreiro, the former rector of the University of the Algarve.
The fire caused 64 deaths and more than 200 injuries and took a week to extinguish. Of the fatalities, 47 people lost their lives on the EN236 as they tried to escape from the fire in their vehicles.
The 296-page report points to gaps in predicting the risk linked to the weather conditions, as well as a lack of firefighters and equipment early on which allowed the blaze to develop quickly into an inferno.
The catastrophic consequences of the fire are linked to the tactical and strategic choices that were made, according to the technical commission, whose report points the finger at the operational command, specifically the now former district commander for the National Civil Protection Agency, Leiria Mário Cerol. If an early warning had been given locals in around 100 settlements and villages, the consequences “could have moderated.”
The deaths occurred in an area of about 20 square kilometres covering the parishes of Pedrógão Grande (53 victims), Castanheira de Pêra (nine victims) and Figueiró dos Vinhos (two victims).
"There was no pre-positioning of firefighting forces and no analysis of the evolution of the situation based on available meteorological information. From the moment the fire alert was raised, there was no awareness of the potential severity of the fire, the firefighting forces that were available were not fully mobilised, and extreme weather events turned what has been a manageable fire at 3:00pm into a perfectly unmanageable situation."
For the Technical Commission, there were decisive factors for the tragic outcome of the Pedrógão fire.
The first was the failure to put out the fire in the first half hour as not enough firefighters were deployed.
The report adds that civil protection measures (road control, evacuations and the monitoring of the population) should have been considered, "as early as 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. and completed by 6:00 p.m.".
These "shortcomings in the command and management of the relief operation" were aggravated "by the difficulties of communication."
The report clearly blames the commanders on the day, "The catastrophic consequences of the fire are no stranger to the tactical and strategic choices that were made," and there should have been a warning and information system designed to get people out of the villages. If an evacuation had been ordered, or if people had been told to stay at home, “probably the dramas that happened would not have happened."
Joao Guerreiro also said that the responsibility for taking action, or lack of, in this type of event is that of "the commander who is directing operations."
Guerreiro added that the flaws in the initial approach were fundamental, and that "from a certain point on, it was impossible to tackle the fire," which, in an hour, spread rapidly and killed 47 people on the EN236.
In addition to this committee’s report, the government also has commissioned an investigation by Professor Xavier Viegas. The findings of this second report will be delivered next Monday.
The Prime Minister already has announced a special Council of Ministers to review and take action based on the two works after the second is delivered.
António Costa said today that his Government will assume any possible political responsibilities. Costa, accompanied by the Ministers for Internal Administration and Agriculture, spoke to journalists in São Bento, Lisbon, after talking for more than an hour with committee chairman, João Guerreiro.
The government approach already is to put the past behind, as much as it is able, and concentrate on the old PR classics of "working together to ensure it doesn't happen again, lessons leant, sympathies for the families" etc etc
"From the Government's point of view, out of respect for the Assembly of the Republic, out of respect for the professionals who produced this report, but above all out of respect for the victims and their families, it is our job to reflect calmly on available information and recommendations The responsibilities are those that result from the report and we will assume them fully," the PM stated adding that next Wednesday, he will meet the families of the victims.
"We have today the knowledge based on the technical and scientific qualification about what happened in Pedrógão Grande and Góis and on the structural causes for the reform that is necessary to undertake in our forests, in the prevention and in firefighting. This was a very demanding report done in a very tight time but with great scientific rigor which used international networks of experts and, over these months, the committee members have exercised their functions with discretion," said the PM.
Before the prime minister had a chance to speak on the subject, the PSD said that the report shows that "the state failed" and held responsible the Minister of Internal Administration and the Prime Minister.
"The PSD does not ask for the resignation of the Minister of Home Affairs because the PSD does not demand the resignation of any member of the Government, but draws attention to the fact that, once we have this report in our hands, it is absolutely impossible for the political power to remain oblivious to the conclusions," said Social Democrat MP, Carlos Abreu Amorim.
According to the CDS-PP parliamentary leader, Nuno Magalhães, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Constança Urbano de Sousa, "is already fired, she does not know when, yet."
Land use and scrub clearance practices were evaluated by the Independent Technical Commission, which concluded that, "some of the plots were either not managed or were poorly managed, taking into account the patterns of good silvicultural practices associated with the two dominant species (pine and eucalyptus), ...but there is no evidence to associate deaths occurring in open spaces or in the interior of vehicles, to non-compliance with rural management measures."
One of the contributing factors that the government is desperate to see downplayed, is the failure of the SIRESP communications sytem which could not provide open communications during the emergency.
This lack of a working comms system will form the defence of the commander and others in operational management, who have yet to react to the report that shifts the blame from emergency equipment failure and the illegal over-planting of trees, right into their laps.
