Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A CHILD WHO died in the flames during his parents’ honeymoon, a family saved by a water tank, and a group of friends rescued by a generous neighbour.
These are some of the stories of dozens of Portuguese whose lives were rocked by fires that swept through the centre of the country at the weekend.
At least 64 people have died in the fires. Firefighters are still tackling blazes in several locations.
The parents of four-year-old Rodrigo were on their honeymoon when they heard news of the devastating fire sweeping through the village of Nodeirinho in the Leiria region.
The newlyweds had left their little boy with his uncle and aunt, the Correio da Manha newspaper reported. Unable to get hold of them, Rodrigo’s mother pleaded for help on social media to find her child.
His grandmother had rushed from Lisbon to try to find him, but the bodies of Rodrigo and his uncle were found beside a car, caught by the flames as they tried to flee.
Water tank escape
While several residents of the village of Pobrais were killed while trying to flee roadside flames, the Ferreira family survived by taking refuge in a small water tank a few metres from their door.
Maria do Ceu, a 52-year-old housewife, her husband, a 68-year-old who was formerly in the merchant navy, and their two daughters aged in their 30s told AFP of their “indescribable” fear.
“I knew we would be safe if we stayed in the water,” one of the daughters, a forest engineer, said. “We tried to convince our neighbours to stay, we begged them, but they still left” by car, towards the road where 11 of them were found dead.
Refuge from the flames
A 60-year-old widow’s home, the most modern in Nodeirinho, became a refuge from the raging fire destroying house after house in the village, the Expresso newspaper reported.
Two panicked couples from Lisbon and three children, who had been caught in the flames as they returned from lunch with friends, knocked on Adelaide Silva’s door, pleading for shelter.
Silva welcomed the family, before letting in an eighth survivor who had been trying to escape by car with her husband.
However, the fire had quickly caught up with the couple, killing the husband while his wife managed to escape with burns to her face, arms and back. One of the women who had already taken refuge in the house, a nurse, wrapped her in wet towels until she was later taken to hospital.
Livelihood destroyed
Virgilio Godinho and his wife Isabel saw their small farm, together with their orchard, olive grove, vegetable garden and pick-up truck go up in flames in the village of Vilas de Pedro.
The couple and their 18-year-old daughter escaped because they were attending a wedding in another village.
Isabel Godinho, 63, tearfully told AFP: “We lost everything, I do not how we will eat, I’m going crazy.”
Virgilio, an unemployed mechanic, lost his entire tool collection.
“It was fortunate we were not there because I would have tried to save our possessions and then the worst could have happened,” he said.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Indescribably tragic.
Poor poor people, this and the recent London fire is really difficult to comprehend what those poor people went through.
You think you have problems then hear about tragedies like this.
I’m basically a middle-aged man, and since I was a child forest have been a huge problem in Portugal and successive governments have done next to nothing to tackle it. We still do not have a proper professional fire service, 90% are unpaid volunteers.
For such a small country we account for a huge portion of the EU’s burnt forest area every summer and things only seem to get worse.
There’s many people with blood on their hands, including those politicians getting all emotional on TV. Not sure what will happen now, but my money is on no effective action being taken again. We’re just at the start of Summer in Portugal, wonder what other tragedies wait us.
@ Rui. A truly horrible tragedy indeed. I visited the Barrochal hills a few years ago following extensive forest fires in the cork oak forests. I learned there that the proliferation of the highly flammable eucalyptus trees that were introduced some time ago are a very serious added fire risk. At that time they were undertaking a very expensive and Labour intensive eradication programme is that still going on?
@Desmodromic: I wouldn’t know, to be honest. Been out of the country nearly 20 years at this stage. As well as being flammable, fast growing eucalyptus drain the soil of moisture, so they were always bad news to the environment, whether or not they facilitated forest fires. Obviously there’s a lot of money to be made with them, far more profitable than native species so they planted them everywhere they could.
@Rui Firmino: They have been doing this in Scotland, removing 13,000 acres of non-native trees (mainly pines planted for timber), to restore the peat bogs which are better at storing the carbon…
Heavily forested areas + extreme heat are always a recipe for disaster, but this is a catastrophe…
@Jodus: It’s been a yearly catastrophe for decades, the only difference now is that unfortunately there were enough fatalities for people to really take notice. Every summer vast areas of woodland are burnt in Portugal, many probably the result of arson.
@Rui Firmino: I agree they do not have the resources needed. Look at the equipment they use in California to put out forest fires. The EU should co-sponsor the necessary aircraft and helicopters needed to fight and ring fence large fires. Losing these CO2 eating trees comes at a huge environmental cost too. Tragic for all that were caught in this fire. Shocking.
Beyond sad ……………….
have your say