Nightmare Forest Fires in Portugal..

Posting this because the numbers are rising and a disaster is happening.. Caused by Lightning ? They have small fires every year but this is Frightening
40+ deaths so far and that will sadly rise..

A catastrophic forest fire in Portugal has claimed at least 43 lives, officials say. Many died while trying to flee the Pedrógão Grande area, 50 km (30 miles) south-east of Coimbra, in their cars, according to the government. Several firefighters are among the 59 people injured. "Unfortunately this seems to be the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires," said Prime Minister Antonio Costa. The death toll could rise further, he said. Secretary of State for the Interior Jorge Gomes said that three people died from smoke inhalation and 18 people travelling in four cars died on the road linking Figueiró dos Vinhos to Castanheira de Pera.

Portugal has been experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures of more than 40C (104F) in some areas. "This is a region that has had fires because of its forests, but we cannot remember a tragedy of these proportions," said Valdemar Alves, the mayor of Pedrógão Grande, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press agency. "I am completely stunned by the number of deaths."

www.bbc.co.uk...

originally posted by: skywatcher44
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Well...

A, what is "Portual"?

B, what is this thread About?

C, Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Slip of the finger VS sorry for your discomfort. PEACE.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: skywatcher44
NOTICE: AboveTopSecret.com management is now enforcing new standards for the opening posts of threads.

Opening posts that contain minimal content, links with little or no explanation, YouTube videos with no commentary, images with little or no commentary, and similar nominal content may be removed without warning or explanation. If your topic is important to you, make sure you explain why, with links and supporting material so that our members may offer more relevant contributions, and ultimately, better threads. In fact, if you have less to say than this simple notice, then you probably do not have enough to start a new thread. Thank you for your assistance in helping to create great threads on ATS.

When you click this form-field, this message will disappear.

Well...

A, what is "Portual"?

B, what is this thread About?

C, Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?

Portual is a simple error with a letter missing.. It is a country in Europe near Spain.

The thread is about devastating forest fires that has claimed many lives.

It is definitely real.. may those that have died rest in peace.

a reply to: skywatcher44

Sounds like a combination of a few things, heatwave, dryness and the lightning storm.

I wonder if Portugal does back burning, or have the greenys got them to not do it.

a reply to: Chadwickus

Yep, I hope it gives no ideas for the ones that wish us harm ? Frightening..

57 Deaths now numbers going up every time I check the Link.

Every effing year such fires hit those european nations that have to suffer most from the EU dictatorship.
Saw the pictures on TV news right now and i wish the people in Portugal all the best.

Man, couldn´t it be Erdolfs Sultanat that burns down????
But destiny is an a-hole, it hits never those that deserve it!

a reply to: skywatcher44

The Prime Minister spoke as if it's not unprecedented in his country. Just that it's not a frequent intensity. The local mayor may not recall that severity in his own area, but it does seem to have precedent for the nation's past.

a reply to: DerBeobachter

Not sure that a lightning-sparked wildfire is susceptible to any influence by the EU governing body.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
a reply to: skywatcher44

Sounds like a combination of a few things, heatwave, dryness and the lightning storm.

Yes, Portugal has been very close to a draught situation, with very little rain this year. These last two days with high temperatures didn't help.

I wonder if Portugal does back burning, or have the greenys got them to not do it.

At least in the area I live in we have "cuts" made in the forests, so fire doesn't have a clear run of the whole area. It may not stop a large fire but it slows it down, as it leaves a strip of some 30 metres without any trees to burn.

One problem we have is the type of tree, mostly pines and eucalyptus, that burn very quickly and that have thin leaves that burn very easily.

Also, one problem we have is that most trees are in private properties, so the state doesn't have full control of them and the owners are responsible for their management. Many of those owners are people that inherited the land and do not have the means to keep them in good conditions against a fire.

a reply to: pfishy

Unfortunately, it's not unusual to have big fires in Portugal, but the one I remember with most casualties was some 25 or 30 years ago, with, if I'm not mistaken, around a dozen of fire-fighters dead when the wind changed and the fire surrounded them.

I don't have any memory of so many deaths, but I remember my parents speaking of a large fire in the Sintra region (near Lisbon) in which many people died (also surrounded by the fire), in that case mostly soldiers from a nearby barracks that were helping fighting the fire. I suppose that happened in the 1960s.

In this case it looks like most people were killed on or near a main road, trying to flee the area, and they got surrounded by the fire, with whole families trapped inside the cars.

I don't know anyone from that area, I hope my work colleagues that are on vacation were not there.

PS: the meteorological prediction for today is the same, very hot weather with possibility of thunderstorms at the end of the day.

a reply to: ArMaP

Fire overtaking evacuation routes is always tragic. I'm sorry for those that have perished or lost loved ones in it.
What's the current area burning or consumed by it now? We get some very large wildfires in the US Southwest annually. It's not uncommon for them to destroy homes and other structures. But they are more proactive with evacuation preparations there due to the high frequency. I hope your firefighters can get it under control before any more people are injured or killed.

a reply to: ArMaP

Also, one problem we have is that most trees are in private properties, so the state doesn't have full control of them and the owners are responsible for their management. Many of those owners are people that inherited the land and do not have the means to keep them in good conditions against a fire.

So a lot of debris on the ground then, which helps fuel the fires when they move through.

Another thing with eucalyptus too, is that they burn really hot, we have the same issues here in Australia.

a reply to: Chadwickus

We don't have them where I live, but I've heard that about eucalyptus.

originally posted by: pfishy
What's the current area burning or consumed by it now?

I couldn't find any information about that yet.

We get some very large wildfires in the US Southwest annually. It's not uncommon for them to destroy homes and other structures. But they are more proactive with evacuation preparations there due to the high frequency. I hope your firefighters can get it under control before any more people are injured or killed.

I don't remember a fire killing so many "civilians", the most killed in a fire, if I'm not mistaken, was 3 or 5, while the most people killed while fighting a fire was 25 soldiers in 1966 (the case I mentioned in a previous post).

This number (58 at the time) is something we never saw before, and, apparently, is a result of how fast the fire spread. I watched a video in which a man (that lost his house and cars) was saying that he was on the phone with a man from the place where the fire started, some 20 kilometres away from where he was, and the other man was telling him that the fire was going in that direction, but then a strong wind appeared (usual during thunderstorms, those clouds are known for having strong winds below them) and the fire crossed those 20 kilometres in 20 minutes, so the man didn't had the time to do any thing.

Another problem (we can see that we have many problems) is the terrain, as most of Portugal is composed either by hills or mountains with little or no access roads. Today we are expecting the help of two aeroplanes, one from Spain and the other from France.

Things now are relatively under control, as people are warned and moved away from the area as much as they could.

originally posted by: pfishy
a reply to: DerBeobachter

Not sure that a lightning-sparked wildfire is susceptible to any influence by the EU governing body.

So you never mentioned that the southern EU states, that have most to suffer from the EU(look at greece, spain, portugal, italy etc), are those that are hit every summer of such fires, because it is hot and dry in the south, in the summer?

Did i say that the EU started those fires?????
I just conclu8ded that those that are almost down, get hit, in addition to all the poltical things, by nature.
Or by greedy speculative builders, that burn down forests so they can build their hotels and villas for the rich there.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
Another thing with eucalyptus too, is that they burn really hot, we have the same issues here in Australia.

We have as many eucalyptus as the native pines, as they grow very fast and are used mostly by the paper industry. One side effect is that they are very good at sucking water from the ground, so they help make those areas less useful for other trees and the area covered by eucalyptus has a tendency to become larger.

a reply to: DerBeobachter
No, you certainly did not say that the EU started the fires. Sorry if I seemed to be saying that you did. I was more addressing the limited effect they could have over the situation, if any. But I do suppose you make a good point in that they are being squeezed hard enough as to not have the financial resources to adequately or swiftly combat it.

originally posted by: DerBeobachter
Or by greedy speculative builders, that burn down forests so they can build their hotels and villas for the rich there.

That doesn't happen in Portugal, as to avoid that we have a law that forbids anyone from building anything in a terrain that had a fire for 10 years, so starting a fire to build in that area turned into a bad deal.

a reply to: ArMaP

That's a smart bit of regulation.