In a statement, the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) reported an arrest carried out on Wednesday by the Central Directorate, in close collaboration with the Central Coastal Ignition Reduction Group—comprising members of the PJ, GNR, and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF)—alongside the Environmental Protection Unit (NPA) of the Nature and Environment Protection Service (SEPNA) of the Coimbra GNR.
“By means of direct ignition with matches, the woman set a fire that consumed about 1.1 hectares of forest densely populated by eucalyptus with high potential to cause loss of human lives and significant damage, had it not been for the prompt and effective intervention of firefighters and aerial resources,” it stated.
Contacted by the Lusa news agency, a source from the PJ in Coimbra clarified that “it was not a fire caused by negligence, but with intent.”
The 71-year-old woman, with no known criminal record, was brought before a judicial authority for her first court hearing and was remanded in custody as a preventive measure.
