In statements, Margarida Belém emphasized the need to give “a sign of hope and a positive sign to these communities and populations in the Interior constantly battered by these fires.”
“If we truly want the Interior to remain populated and to have these landscape and forest caretakers, who are our livestock producers and farmers, we must provide a positive sign of support and measures to continue feeding these people’s hope and ensure we remember them, and there must be compensations,” the local leader stated.
The mayor also mentioned initiating an assessment process to support the population due to “many damages” in the municipality.
“The territory now needs recovery, and we must support the people, as there are various damages here, including beekeepers, farmers, several agricultural annexes, and support structures that have been damaged, many people also without water. We are distributing potable water, thus conducting a very meticulous and extremely important job in supporting these populations,” she noted.
In addition to social and psychological support for the population, Margarida Belém highlighted that the main current concern for the municipality is “the issue of water distribution and pipe replacement,” crucial for the daily lives of producers and farmers.
“We can only recover if we can reactivate normalcy here, and this normalcy still takes time, so we must assist everyone in this rapid recovery. Naturally, the distribution of potable water to these localities and some more isolated houses is essential, being done with the help of volunteer firefighters and with support for the pipes crucial for these populations to regain access to what is an essential resource,” she said.
Though initial estimates suggested the burned area exceeded 4,000 hectares in this municipality, the mayor believes the figure may be lower, noting that “some patches were not affected” within that area.
Margarida Belém also mentioned that the Municipal Emergency and Civil Protection Plan, activated in the early hours of Tuesday, remains in effect, ensuring all municipal services and workers are fully mobilized for all necessary Civil Protection actions.
The fire in Arouca, which spread to neighboring municipalities of Castelo de Paiva (Aveiro district) and Cinfães (Viseu district), had one active front as of 09:15 today, which Civil Protection hoped to “extinguish” soon.
As of 11:45, the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority’s website reported 597 personnel fighting the flames, supported by 225 vehicles.
