José Augusto, who established his business on the Estrada Nacional 229 in Sarzedas, Sernancelhe, Viseu district, 15 years ago, has seen it grow in both size and clientele. Now, he often finds himself turning away business due to high demand.
“I have been refusing service because I don’t like having customers’ cars here. I had no idea this would happen and that everything would burn! It was like the world was ending with flames reaching from the pine trees about 30 meters away,” he recounted.
With a pavilion covering 630 square meters and an area around the stand totaling 1,800 square meters, José Augusto reported that everything was destroyed, including cars for sale and those awaiting repair.
“In fact, some were ready to be delivered to clients. There were over 20 client cars, and some of mine, including my wife’s car. In total, 101 vehicles were lost, including three motorcycles and a tractor that was already repaired for delivery,” he accounted.
The clientele comes from various places, from Sernancelhe to other councils in the Viseu district, and even from farther locations such as Lisbon. One client from Lisbon already had her car ready for delivery.
In addition to the vehicles, José Augusto indicated a loss of “over 800 new tires and all workshop equipment, such as lifts and other machines,” which were numerous.
As for insurance, the entrepreneur anticipates that “it will not cover much” of the losses caused by the fire. Concerning vehicles in the workshop for repair, “no insurance” covers such damages.
“Insurance only covers client cars if it’s a technical error of mine within my workshop. Otherwise, they don’t insure, despite my efforts to obtain such coverage. This was no error in my workshop,” he lamented.
Working with an “exemplary employee” who “still tried to move client cars and others from the stand that were further away,” José Augusto said he is not one to “give up,” though he admitted that “a lot of thought” is required for the future.
“I am not a man who owes anyone; my accounts are all up to date. Precisely half a year ago, on February 14, I finished repaying a loan I took out to invest in this workshop. I need to see what kind of support is available and what can be done to decide my future,” the 52-year-old businessman expressed.
The memory of the flames that hit his business last Thursday remains relentless, interfering with his sleep. Speaking to the agency, he confessed that while he was on the road with his wife, he thought only of the distress experienced by those who died in their cars during a similar incident in Pedrógão Grande, Leiria, in 2017.
“I really thought we might stay there too, because flames were everywhere, on the road. I thought we couldn’t escape. My wife and I,” he recounted.
José Augusto first released the animals and secured them, then attempted to save the cars, working “until the last moment,” making the journey back to his home in Beselga, a neighboring area in Penedono, “arduous.”
The fire originated from two separate blazes in Sátão (Viseu district) and Trancoso (Guarda district) and merged last Friday, spreading to 11 municipalities across the two districts.
The affected municipalities include Sátão, Sernancelhe, Moimenta da Beira, Penedono, and São João da Pesqueira (Viseu district) and Aguiar da Beira, Trancoso, Fornos de Algodres, Mêda, Celorico da Beira, and Vila Nova de Foz Côa (Guarda district).
The fire in Vila Boa, Ferreira de Aves parish, Sátão, was first alerted at 01:03 on Wednesday, reaching the municipalities of Sernancelhe, also in Viseu district, and Aguiar da Beira, in the Guarda district, the same day.
The alert for the Freches fire in Trancoso, Guarda district, was signaled a week ago on the 9th at 17:21.
By 15:30, according to the Civil Protection Authority, 654 personnel supported by 211 vehicles and three aircraft were mobilized in Sátão, while 422 operators with 136 vehicles and one aircraft were in action in Trancoso.
Overall, the fire involved 1,076 personnel, supported by 347 vehicles and four aircraft.
