It's Such A Crime, I Can't Find Any Words...

duartix

This is a satelite picture of Portugal this week.
For those who know what's happening drop by this place.
As a note it's around 700Km (+- 450miles) from North to South.

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duartix

Those darker areas are what's was already lost at the beginning of the week. There are still 15 districts on fire today.

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duartix

I could start pointing guns all around, (to this Government who is responsable for the lack of watchers this year, to the last Government who hasn't pushed the right legislation, to the Command Coordination which everyone says is inexistent, to some owners who do nothing to clean their property, to the weather which has been constantly pushing temps around 40º for more than a week), but I wish with all my heart that those criminals who give birth to these monsters all rot in jail.
They and the ones who pay them.

All my other words are of suport and respect for those who risk their lifes on the job.
If it takes tons of courage to be a fireman, it is ten times more true in this country.

My condolences also to the relatives of those people who lost their lives traped in this HELL.

Eric Adrignola

I have only seen little bits and pieces of what's going on over there on the news. Been really busy at work, haven't been watching TV much at all.
How did those fires get so out of hand? I was wondering about that, as I never remember seeing reports of such fires raging in Europe. Happens here all the time, but usually it's in areas where it is SUPPOSED to happen, to keep the forests in check. Thankfully, most of the forests that burn here are not in very populated areas.
An interesting sidenote: People here have gotten so adept at putting out forest fires, they're killing the forests. In North Carolina alone, there are dozens of species that are endangered simply becauce we've been putting out the forest fires.
On the coast is a population of Longleaf pine. they used to be the dominant pine in the State. They remain dormant for YEARS as seedlings, developing big roots and stores of energy. Then they shoot up really fast. while they're dormant, they're resistant to fires. After they're big,, they're resistant to fires. By minimizing the time they're vulnerable to fires, they out-compete all other trees when fires occur every decade or so.
And the onlt longleaf pine forest left in the state is near the cost, on the property of Ft. Bragg, home of the US special forces.

Why is it still there? How is it able to survive when all the other longleaf pine forests were outcompeted by loblolly pine?

Because it's the impact zone for the Army's firing range. Shells impacting cause forest fires, killing the trees and shrubs that can't survive, leaving the longleaf to thrive.

That's one of my favorite lessons from my Ecology class.

Hope everything calms down over there.
Eric A

jarq

Hello Duartix:

Just to say sorry doesn't help too much but it's all we can do.

It's always the same, for the summers. But the problem is not the heat, but the empty-head people who lit up these fires.

F..k them !!

regards,
josé

duartix

Many of those had a criminal hand behind.
Temperatures have been up in the 40ºC (104ºF) for more than a week. There has been a lot of wind.
On top of this for the second time this week there have been dry thunder storms.

Firemen can't do miracles, and nothing short of that is going to stop it.

DavidN

We had the same problem in Australia almost every year but the end of last year and early this year (our summer time) we had some really bad ones. We lost a lot of our forests not to mention the lives lost as well. We also lost most of the great dig sites for bonsai material too. Most of the fires were started by arsonists.

LivingArt

fires are horrible. we had some bad ones here in Florida a while ago. my heart goes out to you.

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Manuela

Hi !

Never posted here but as I was passing by ...
and being a Portuguese also, I couldn't get indifferent to what Duarte has posted.
No words will be enough ...
Last year when I saw what happen in Australia it gave me the creeps,
couldn't say anything to some friends from over there ...
and thinking it could happen in Portugal it got me scared.
At that time I though that being Australia 80 times bigger then Portugal,
if such thing could happen in here, we would disappear.
Well it happened and only in 40 or 50 years from now, if everything goes
normal it will be more or less the same as it was few months ago.
Looking out of the window I see Valongo mountains,
last week I passed by Alvão and Marão mountains, couldn't
help notice that there was no fire indication ... few trees, but there was a lot of
vegetation waiting to be burned. The same temperatures were there also but
the fire is precisely were the trees are ... The weather and high temperatures
make lot of damage but when they make it, they make it every where.
I just hope that all of those 30 to 40 people that were arrested and those that
are being investigated and those that were caught in act, pay very well paid
for what they done and those behind big interests are discovered.
It's priceless ...
Sorry to participate in this situation at this Forum.

Greetings to All !
( Sad ) Greetings From Porto Duarte !
Manuela