The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, expressed sorrow over the death of a firefighter from the Covilhã brigade, who died on Sunday while en route to a fire in the Lousã municipality.
“The President of the Republic has just learned of the tragic death of a firefighter from the Covilhã Brigade, in a traffic accident, which occurred while serving the community in the fight against fires, where two other comrades were also seriously injured,” reads a statement published on the President’s website.
In the statement, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized that the accident occurred “after ten days of uninterrupted dedication with no limits of time and space,” just “as has happened with thousands of firefighters in Portugal.”
The President conveyed his “deep sympathetic condolences to the brigade commander and the Mayor of Covilhã” and asked them to “convey these to the mourning family and to the families experiencing the anxiety of the injured firefighters’ condition.”
The National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) confirmed on Sunday that a firefighter from the Covilhã brigade died and four others were injured in a traffic accident on the way to a fire in the Fundão municipality.
In a statement, Civil Protection added that the four injured firefighters “are being rescued/assisted by emergency teams on site.”
A firefighter died and four others were injured in an accident in Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis, in the municipality of Covilhã. According to Civil Protection, the injured are being rescued.
Márcia Guímaro Rodrigues | 19:51 – 17/08/2025
The Civil Protection extended “our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Covilhã, also expressing hopes for a swift and full recovery for the firefighters injured in this accident.”
“It cannot be overstated the commitment, altruism, and professionalism with which, daily, thousands of firefighters across the country dedicate themselves with courage and dedication to defending populations and forests against fires,” it reads.
On social media, the League of Portuguese Firefighters (LBP) lamented the “death of a firefighter from the Covilhã Volunteers and the serious injuries caused to the other members, who were victims of the vehicle rollover on their way to fight fires.”
It should be noted that this is the second death recorded this year in forest fires, following the death on Friday of Carlos Dâmaso, former mayor of Vila Franca do Deão in the municipality of Guarda, while fighting the flames.
