The mayor advocated that emigrants’ homes should be considered for support as if they were primary residences.
“Approximately, we are talking about seven burned homes and 39 abandoned ones. The seven burned homes include those of emigrants, at least two belonging to emigrants, the rest are primary residences,” stated Carlos Santos.
The president of Sernancelhe Municipality admitted that he has yet to thoroughly examine whether the state support for the recovery of homes includes “only the primary residences” of the entire year or also those of emigrants.
“I consider the home of an emigrant to also be a primary residence because when they return from the country where they work to Portugal, the only house they have to live in is the one they built here in Portugal,” he argued.
Without that home, “they have no other house unless it’s with relatives.”
“Therefore, I believe that the reconstruction of an emigrant’s home should be equated to rebuilding a primary residence,” he emphasized.
Regarding the other burned houses, Carlos Santos pointed out that now the view on abandoned houses must change, “because they put neighboring homes at risk.”
“They are within the urban cluster, and since no one was there to defend them, aside from burning, they endangered other inhabited neighboring houses. It’s something that needs attention in the future, to resolve and ensure these houses do not threaten others,” he noted.
In this regard, he mentioned that possibly only after the municipal elections scheduled for October 12 will the matter be discussed, but “there will need to be reinforced measures to encourage the recovery” of these homes.
The fire that reached Sernancelhe originated from two separate blazes – one that broke out on the 13th in Sátão (Viseu district) and another on the 9th in Trancoso (Guarda district), which merged into one on the 15th, affecting a total of 11 municipalities across the two districts.
The affected municipalities were Sátão, Sernancelhe, Moimenta da Beira, Penedono, and São João da Pesqueira (Viseu district); and Aguiar da Beira, Trancoso, Fornos de Algodres, Mêda, Celorico da Beira, and Vila Nova de Foz Côa (Guarda district).
This fire was declared under control by 10:00 PM on the 17th.
Continental Portugal experienced several large rural fires in July and August, primarily impacting the North and Center regions.
The fires resulted in four fatalities, including a firefighter, and several injuries, some serious, and destroyed homes both primary and secondary, as well as agricultural, livestock operations, and forest areas.
Portugal activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which it benefits from two Fire Boss planes, a Super Puma helicopter, and two Canadair planes.
Provisional official data indicates that by August 23, around 250,000 hectares had burned, including more than 57,000 in the fire that started in Arganil.
