A firefighter and candidate for vice-president of the Alpiarça Municipality in the district of Santarém, Alexandra Almeida, disclosed on social media that she was engaged in firefighting efforts for “more than 24 hours” in the areas of Piódão and Covilhã.
“Forests burn, memories burn, lives of those who have always cared for the land burn,” she stated, adding that during her time on the ground, there was “little rest.”
Alexandra went further, issuing scathing criticism of the “lack of planning, forest management, and total absence of prevention” against wildfires.
“Year after year, everything repeats itself. We are firefighters running after the fact, always patching what was never prevented. Pedrógão was eight years ago. Sixty-six people died, firefighters died, and changes were promised to us. Where are they?! Nothing has changed,” she wrote, highlighting that “we continue to fight fires on completely abandoned lands, with no access, knee-high shrubs, no containment strips, without the minimum conditions for combat.”
“We continue to witness colleagues dying! We continue to accept a disgraceful, miserable hourly rate that has nothing to do with what we endure in each theater of operations,” she asserted in a post that has already garnered over 6,000 shares, 2,000 reactions, and hundreds of comments in just a few hours.
“And then, when everything burns, the same question always arises: who benefits from this?! The land burns and, in the place of the forest, a field of solar panels appears. The land burns, and soon after, interests in lithium, mines, wind farms emerge. This is how ‘territorial management’ is done in Portugal: let it burn and then hand it over to the private sector. The same people who fail in prevention often open the doors for business after the tragedy,” she further accused.
Outraged by the situation, the social-democrat maintained that the country only remembers firefighters “at the photo opportunity moment.”
“They call us heroes when everything burns and even more when we die. But when the fire is out, we go back to being the same as always. The country only remembers the firefighters at the photo op moment, never when it’s time to give us dignity. I was there, more than 24 hours breathing smoke, carrying hoses, enduring the heat of the flames, fighting against fatigue. I have now given way to another team, which will continue in the same unequal struggle. And I tell you: we are not just fighting a fire. We are fighting a system that thrives on tragedy, forgetfulness, and interest,” she said, emphasizing that “as long as we continue to sweep the ashes under the rug, Portugal will continue to burn.”
“As long as private interests speak louder than human lives, forests and firefighters will continue to be disposable. As long as there is no courage, we will continue to be the last shield. Poorly paid, poorly remembered, but always present. As long as there are ‘lighters on legs,’ this terrorism will not end. Strength and courage to those who still attempt to save something and someone. Let no one say later that no one warned,” concluded the firefighter.
It should be noted that since August 2, around 4,000 firefighters have been battling blazes that have ravaged the Center and North of the country, destroying hectares of forest and causing damage to homes and animal habitats.
Two people, including a firefighter, have already died in the course of fighting the fires this August.
