Elderly man “prohibited from entering village”
An 89-year-old man has been arrested following a major blaze in woodland around the village of Fortios, Portalegre.
He ‘admitted’ to police, who came upon him at “the probable location of the start of the blaze” earlier this week that he had been “burning crop leftovers” when the fire ‘went out of control’.
This is something that authorities have constantly impressed on people should never be done in the summer months.
Even outside of the ‘danger period for wildfires’, landowners and farmers are expected to call their local firefighting station for permission before burnings of any kind, including bonfires.
As it was, this blaze, which started on Tuesday afternoon, had to be tackled by over 200 firefighters, 72 appliances and 12 firefighting aircraft.
It was finally brought under control by the early evening, by which time it had burnt well over 130 hectares.
The 89-year-old man meantime was kept overnight in police cells, appearing in court yesterday, where he was “prohibited from entering the village of Fortios”, according to Rádio Despertar Voz de Estremoz.
Authorities have since reiterated their warnings about field burnings – fines for which can reach €25,000 for a ‘single person’, and €125,000 for ‘collectives’.
