At the presentation session of the Special Rural Firefighting Device for 2024, in Ourém, Luís Albuquerque appealed to the Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, present at the initiative, to reinforce the prevention means in the municipality, "under penalty of, in the coming months, if the weather conditions are unfavorable", to be scourged again by fires.

"We must also demand that Justice punish in a real and effective way those who contribute to this scourge", said the mayor.

Ourém was one of the municipalities most affected by fires in the summer of 2022, and the mayor of the municipality presented the previous Government with a "specification book" of six million euros, which correspond to the losses caused by the fires, "not counting the forest".

In his speech, the mayor of that municipality in the district of Santarém said that, "year after year, there are dozens of ignitions that almost always result in fires with disastrous consequences".

"In the last two years, more than 160 ignitions have been recorded, and an area of about 6,200 hectares has burned", he pointed out, stating that "in this period alone, approximately 15 percent of the area of the municipality of Ourém has burned".

But for the mayor, "worse than the numbers are the conclusions", arguing that "most of the ignitions were considered intentional".

"We are talking about crimes. In numerical terms, we are talking about around 65 percent of intentional ignitions in Ourém when the national average is around 29 percent", he pointed out, stressing that prevention has been one of the main concerns of the municipality.

Listing the measures taken in this area, Luís Albuquerque warned that "all this effort can only be successful if prevention and surveillance are reinforced and provided with adequate means to guarantee everyone's safety".

Referring to the fire brigades of the municipality (Ourém, Caxarias and Fátima) and two detached sections (Freixianda and Espite), with "more than 300 volunteers", the mayor stressed that the humanitarian associations present a "scenario that contrasts with the one in which most municipalities live, in which the number of volunteers has decreased drastically over the last few years".

In the case of Ourém, the corporations "have not only managed to maintain the number of volunteers, but have even managed to increase it in recent years", he stressed.

Regarding the Fátima corporation, he revealed that "it is finally in a position to move forward with the construction of a worthy and deserved barracks", with the support of the City Council of two million euros.

"I appeal to the Minister [to] assess the availability of finding an additional source of financing" for the work, he continued.

Still on Fátima, whose sanctuary is visited by millions of people every year, Luís Albuquerque recalled that the only operation supported by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), with the support of the municipality, is that of the pilgrimage of May 12 and 13.

"Throughout the year there are four more major pilgrimages that are supported" by the municipality and that "should also have more effective support" from ANEPC, as the costs "are extremely high", defended the mayor.

Finally, he thanked the more than 300 firefighters that the municipality of Ourém has, "extensible to all firefighters" in the country, for "being the silent heroes, who are always ready to intervene".

Leia Também: Incêndios? "Temos à nossa frente um período de trabalho árduo", diz MAI (Portuguese version)