“It is now an obvious conclusion, which no one disputes, that it is necessary to provide the territory of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, particularly in the months of highest forest fire risk, with reinforcement of an aerial resource,” says Duarte Caldeira, president of the Center for Studies and Intervention in Civil Protection.
In statements to Lusa regarding the fire that broke out in Madeira on Wednesday in the mountains of Ribeira Brava, spreading the following day to the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, and, over the weekend, to the municipality of Ponta do Sol, the former president of the Portuguese Firefighters League emphasizes that, in this specific case, this resource should be a helicopter, due to the mobility it allows.
Contacted about the same issue, the current president of the Portuguese Firefighters League, António Nunes, recognizes the importance of reinforcing resources on the ground, but in “balance” with the effectiveness and management of available resources.
“It’s evident that we could always add more resources, but the question that then has to be considered is […] the capacity to make the best possible use of the stationed resources in all circumstances,” emphasizes António Nunes, noting that “resources are always scarce.”
“I can’t say, at this moment, that it’s technically advisable to have two, three, four aerial resources, because, eventually, if we had three aerial resources, we would be discussing the fourth aerial resource,” he observes, noting that he doesn’t have “all the data” to evaluate.
Moreover, “these additional resources can also be resources that can be transported at opportune moments,” counters the president of the Firefighters League, advising prudence.
“This technical evaluation has to be done with some care, not at the moment when we are talking about a specific fire,” he stresses.
The activation of the aerial resource available in Madeira – which has been part of the Madeira Forest Fire Combat Operational Plan since 2018 – generated controversy for many years, and Duarte Caldeira admits that there are “various technical dimensions that need to be considered.”
For example, “the utilization of the helicopter, in many circumstances, is not possible to achieve,” given the orography of the territory, particularly in the areas affected by the fire now raging on the island of Madeira.
At the same time, “when there’s a lot of smoke or when visibility conditions compromise the safety of the aircraft operation, obviously it cannot operate,” he points out.
The use of aerial resources in Madeira has been a subject of discussion, but Duarte Caldeira recalls that a study conducted in 2017 by the National Civil Protection Authority found “that there were indeed conditions to operate aerial resources in fighting forest fires in the territory.”
This leads him to conclude that, in the case of Madeira, “it is indisputable and has been identified for a long time that a helicopter, by itself, is insufficient to combat a forest fire with the characteristics of the one that has been occurring for seven days.”
Of course, having more aerial resources is not enough, “it is also necessary to provide for the need for infrastructure, namely water plans or, in the case of helicopters, water points, supply points, so that the aerial resource to be used has refueling conditions in a timely manner.”
Moreover, he recalls, aerial resources are important, “but let it be clear that fires are extinguished on the ground.”
Following the fires that devastated the Funchal area in August 2016, causing three deaths and 157 million euros in damages, the Regional Government of Madeira approved, in 2017, the use of aerial resources in fighting fires in forest and urban areas in the region between June 15 and October 15 of each year, at a price of 1.2 million euros, supported by the regional budget.
Today, the Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, said that the Government “will evaluate” the request for permanent reinforcement of aerial resources to combat fires in Madeira, but stressed that it is still premature to make this analysis.
Margarida Blasco refused to comment on the indecision of the Madeiran Regional Government in requesting help from the central executive, emphasizing that the requested contingent “was granted immediately,” with 78 elements heading to the region over the weekend, joined on Monday by more operatives from the Azores.
The islands of Madeira and Porto Santo are under yellow warning until 24:
