PJ police have arrested a 42-year-old man whom they suspect of repeated arson attacks in the municipality of Ponte da Barca since last summer.
This month Ponte da Barca suffered terribly with wildfires – but these latest do not appear to have been attributed to the suspect.
He is suspected of having caused “at least 17 fires in Lavradas”, within the Ponte da Barca municipality, between June 15 last year and July 10 this year. The PJ explains that the man acted in a “systematic manner and on alternate days and times, mostly in the late afternoon”.
He is “known for excessive alcohol consumption”, but also for knowing the terrain very well, “mastering its entirety and escape points”.
It was through this knowledge that police believe the suspect was able to ensure that no-one saw himstarting fires, or escaping areas after they had started.
The areas too, where he is alleged to have acted, have “special conditions for the spread of large forest fires, with tree vegetation and steep slopes typical of the region”.
The fires “endangered an entire extensive forest area” and resulted in “extremely high concrete danger to people, their property and the environment”, albeit they were all “promptly extinguished”, adds the PJ statement.
The man is also suspected of arson in 2023, in the forest area in Bemposta, Lavradas.
He will be brought before authorities for initial questioning and the application of bail measures, or otherwise.
This operation was carried out “in close collaboration with the Working Group for the Reduction of Fires in Rural Areas – North Coast (GNR, ICNF and PJ)”, concludes the statement.
As the drama of this summer’s wildfires ‘reduces’, more and more stories are appearing of suspected arsonists run to ground. In the meantime, CHEGA leader André Ventura is proposing a ban on the economic exploitation of burned areas for 10 years and the sale of burned wood. It is a nod towards the inquiry he wants to see in the interests behind Portugal’s perennial wildfire scourge – an inquiry other parties seem to be rejecting.
Mr Ventura also seeks consensus on increasing penalties for arsonists (so that they are treated as terrorists), and creating a support fund for firefighters’ families.
These measures are part of a package of proposals to be delivered to parliament by CHEGA today.
As André Ventura has stressed, as long as “millions are allowed to be made at the expense of burned areas’, there will never be “serious prevention in Portugal”.
“Ultimately, our proposal allows for arsonists to receive 25 years in prison, the maximum penalty under the Portuguese Penal Code, in certain circumstances of guilt or objective conditions,” he said, aware that any decisions will need majority consensus.
The legislative package presented by the party includes a recommendation to create a national fund to protect the families of firefighters who are disabled or die while fighting fires and to grant a risk allowance to firefighters – and calls for the reformulation of the National Civil Protection Emergency Plan to include animals.
Mr Ventura admits that some of the proposals ‘may be unconstitutional’, but hopes they are a starting point, that can be refined by contributions from other parties.
Source material: SIC Notícias
