A Polícia Judiciária (PJ) detained a 22-year-old man on Saturday on suspicion of committing four forest fires near the municipality of Mira, in the Coimbra district.
According to a statement issued on Monday, the first fire occurred on Thursday, July 31, and the remaining three on Friday, August 1.
“The fires, two started in the early afternoon and two more at night, destroyed approximately four hundred square meters of forest area. However, considering the area’s richness in acacias, pines, and eucalyptus, further consequences were averted thanks to the prompt and effective intervention of the Mira Volunteer Firefighters,” the note reads.
The PJ explains that “it was determined that the fires were ignited using direct flame with a lighter, while the suspect was cycling through the village streets in the region, surrounded by forested areas adjacent to residential zones, placing the homes, their inhabitants, and those traveling in those streets at risk.”
The motivation behind these acts remains unknown. Authorities have gathered “substantial evidence implicating the suspect as the perpetrator of these fires.”
The detainee will face a judicial hearing for questioning and the imposition of appropriate preventive measures.
