Portugal’s PJ criminal police have identified a 14-year-old boy as the suspected author of several forest fires that broke out in the northern municipality of Fafe over the last four summers.
The investigation, led by the Criminal Investigation Department of Braga in cooperation with the Working Group for the Reduction of Rural Ignitions – Litoral Norte, linked the teenager to fires in the parishes of Seidões, Ardegão and Arnozela.
Says PJ in a statement, these local communities have been blighted by wildfires in summer months, with fires breaking out almost daily in some cases and destroying several hectares of woodland. The recurring fires prompted PJ police to launch an investigation.
According to the criminal police force, the boy set fires using matches and often fled the scene on his scooter, returning to his home in Seidões where he hid afterwards.
Investigators believe the teen acted out of frustration with poor school results and social isolation, though in some cases he may not have acted alone.
The locations chosen for the fires posed a high risk of spreading, due to the region’s dense forest areas, steep terrain, and abundant dry vegetation, PJ police add.
Significant evidence linking the teenager to the incidents was gathered by police, and he has since confessed. The case has now been passed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and will proceed to the Family and Juvenile Court.
