What caused Portugal forest fires?

World
Europe

Portugal's wildfires began on the night of June 17 in Pedrogao Grande, and soon claimed the lives of 62 people. It was a combination of factors that made the fire so deadly.

"The origin was a lightning bolt from a dry storm. The weather conditions were really adverse related to climate change, and the wind was really strong with more than 30 kilometers per hour,” Domingos Patacho, an environmentalist, said.

In Portugal, eucalyptus and gum trees cover a quarter of forest land in the country. But the problem is that eucalyptus trees are exceptionally flammable. Once ablaze they become like matchsticks, as the oil they contain burns faster and hotter than other types of trees.

Many of the people who were killed during the fire died a terrible death, trapped inside their cars as they were trying to escape the area, but experts emphasize if the trees had been structured differently there, the outcome could have been different for some of those victims, CGTN's Michal Bardavid noted.

"Of the cars that burned down - the aluminum parts of the engine crankcase melted completely, we are talking about 600 degrees Celsius. If it were cork oak trees, since the cork doesn't burn easily, it would have prevented such high temperatures, decreasing the risk for the cars using the roads and allowing the firefighters to work a lot faster,” Patacho said.

Forestry engineer Hugo Almeida said, ”The forest territory is 2 percent or 3 percent public and the rest is private. The public and the private sector have to find a way to create a closer relationship."

With the current state of dangerous forests, many environmentalists also believe the public needs to be better educated to decrease risks. Though the tragic loss of human life has put emphasis on the vitality of this issue, it will no doubt take a lot of time and effort to make the necessary changes for safer forests in Portugal.