During the ceremony for the installation of the PS Strategic Council, held at the party headquarters in Lisbon, José Luís Carneiro was questioned by journalists regarding the challenging day of fighting fires and the statements by the Minister of Internal Administration on the use of aerial resources.
“At this moment, only a word of solidarity for the forces, for the elements of Civil Protection, for our firefighters who generously, altruistically, and dedicatedly give their lives to the protection of people and property,” he began.
When pressed by journalists, especially about the issue of aerial resources, the PS leader declined to comment, explaining his intention to “value the act” of the Strategic Council installation.
“This is a very relevant act and not valuing the personalities who lent their names to this important institution, which will serve the future of the country, would diminish this honor, this prestige that these citizens offer us at this important moment,” he explained.
More than 2,700 personnel, supported by over 600 vehicles, were battling 17 forest fires classified as high risk this afternoon, according to the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC).
In an updated report from the ANEPC headquarters in Carnaxide, Oeiras, the national commander of Emergency and Civil Protection, Mário Silvestre, reported that 20 people, including 14 firefighters, had received assistance.
The Minister of Internal Administration argued today that the number of aerial firefighting resources is irrelevant, as what was causing “difficulty to the operators” in the ongoing fires were the terrain characteristics.
After a meeting at the headquarters of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), Maria Lúcia Amaral emphasized that, considering the fires most troubling the authorities, “the existence of 72 or 76 or 80 aerial means” would be irrelevant, “because what causes difficulty to the operators is the extremely accident-prone nature of the orography, the difficulty of access.”
“The complexity of operations and fighting is such that it does no good to know how many aircraft we have, if many are missing, if not many are missing. In fact, none are missing,” she added.
