What Portugal Learned From the Deadly Great October and Pedrógão Fires of 2017
- @ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood
- Sep 3
- 16 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Domingos Xavier Viegas coordinated reports on the Pedrógão Grande fire in June and the Great Fire of October 2017 at the Center for Studies on Forest Fires at the University of Coimbra for the government. (Photo from Rádio Regional)
Three days before Portugal's largest ever fire -- the fire of Arganil -- spread into my municipality of Oliveira do Hospital, forest fire expert Domingos Xavier Viegas, echoing the warnings of other scientists, said that 2025 was, in meteorological terms, "very close to the worst years" on record and could be "more severe" than 2017, the year of the deadly Pedrógão Grande in June and the Great Fire of October.
He should know best.
At the Center for Studies on Forest Fires at the University of Coimbra, Domingos Xavier Viegas coordinated the reports for the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) on the Pedrógão Grande fire in June and the Great Fire of October 2017, which occurred only four months later. A total of 116 people died in these fires.
This year, "the data (collected in the Central region but noting that conditions in the north and south of the country may be "relatively even worse") my colleagues provided me indicate (vegetation) moisture levels of around 4 percent to 6 percent, which are values that indicate an extreme danger index," said the director of the Center for Studies on Forest Fires of the University of Coimbra. He added that the shrub moisture is "among the lowest 5 percent since records began 20 years ago", reported Lusa, according to RTP Notícias (August 12).
Arganil Fire: 11 Days to Reach Resolution
The fire, which broke out in Arganil, Coimbra District on August 13, represents the largest burnt area ever in Portugal at 64,451 hectares, according to the provisional national report of the Sistema de Gestão de Informação de Incêndios Florestais (SGIF) (Forest Fire Information Management System) of the Instituto de Conservação da Natureza e Florestas (ICNF) (Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests), surpassing the previous record of more than 53,000 hectares in the Lousã complex fire of the Great Fire of October 2017, reported Lusa, according to Expresso (August 25).
One hectare is about one and a half football pitches.
The Arganil fire took a long 11 days to reach resolution on August 24.
In this year's horrific fires, four people, including two firefighters,lost their lives, reported Público (August 23).
Approximately 250,000 hectares burned in Portugal.
Guarda, Viseu and Castelo Branco were the districts with the largest burnt areas. Covilhã, Sabugal and Trancoso were the municipalities most affected by the fires followed by Sernancelhe, Mêda, Arganil and Penedono, with more than 10,000 burned hectares.
Unknown owners, uncleared land and non-native flammable eucalyptus trees contribute to wildfires in Portugal.
In 2020, about half of the fires also were caused willfully, according to the Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIFR), according to SIC Notícias (March 25, 2021). Arsonists are often mentally ill.
As Much an Urban As Rural Challenge
This year, as every year, wildfires have roused sentiments about the suffering of the rural interior and the urban posture of neglect of its counterpart. Yet, I say that wildfires know no boundaries. Wildfires warrant as much attention from the country as the city. Three years ago, they proved as much.
"No one is safe", said an editorial in Correio da Manhã (July 15, 2022). Those accustomed to seeing the interior of the country burning on television news also saw the fire of Caneças threaten houses near Lisbon, and the fire of Palmela burned less than 30 minutes from the capital. Flames cut across two national highways: the A1 and the A29.
This year, wildfires have spurred political debate and proposals for a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI), composed of members of Parliament and focused on determining political responsibilities in the management of firefighting efforts, and an Independent Technical Commission (CTI), composed of experts and whose results are advisory, reported Expresso (August 28).
The conclusions of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry are not binding. After approval of the final report, the decision to proceed with a criminal investigation, if warranted, lies with the Attorney General's Office, not the Assembleia da República.
After the two deadly fires of 2017, Independent Technical Commissions were formed and reports completed on the Pedrógão Grande fire and the Great Fire of October.
Pedrógão Grande Trial
The investigation of the Pedrógão Grande fires resulted in what José Carlos Alexandrino, then president of the municipality of Oliveira do Hospital, called "the trial of shame". The president of the Intercommunal Community of the Region of Coimbra regretted the community's desire to judge people “as if it were possible to control this fire”, reported APO24 (July 24, 2021).
Eleven defendants, including municipality presidents, a fire brigade commander and EDP officials, were accused of negligent homicide in the deaths of 63 people. All the defendants were acquitted at the end of the 15-month trial on September 13, 2022.
No Indictments in Ovtober 2017 Fire
However, the probe of the October fires in central Portugal, which killed 50, was not filed, much less resulted in any indictments, according to a judicial source of the Expresso (August 13, 2021).
The Public Ministry decided to combine the October 15 fires into a single mega-inquiry, which was centralized by the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) and the Judicial Police, reported Expresso (August 13, 2021).
“The MP and the PJ followed a different line of investigation from that used in Pedrógão, which did not involve blaming local politicians and Civil Protection for omission or for lack of clearing the forest. ‘In most of these October fires, an attempt was made to find out material intentional authorship. But it was not always possible to reach a conclusion about identity,’ explained a judicial source,” according to Expresso (October 14, 2022).
Firefighters communicate through high-frequency ROB and digital-platform SIRESP.
SIRESP Communication System
At the Pedrógão Grande trial, Constança Urbano de Sousa, the former Minister of Internal Administration who resigned three days after the Great Fire of October 2017, testified that there were communication failures, “namely the SIRESP network”, the Integrated System of Emergency and Security Networks in Portugal.
Created in 2006, the SIRESP network is the exclusive communications network of the Portuguese State for the command, control and coordination of communications in all emergency and security situations. It responds to the needs of more than 40,000 users and annually supports more than 35 million calls, according to its website.
ROB (Rede Operacional do Bombeiros - Operational Network of Firefighters) is another communications service for firefighters.
Unlike SIRESP, which is based on a digital platform and has farther reach, ROB operates in the high-frequency band like shortwave radio and serves a smaller area, according to Renascença. ROB equipment is cheaper and also more accessible. Firefighters tend to use both but in different situations: SIRESP to communicate among departments in a far-reaching fire and ROB to request, for example, a hose or nozzle from a neighboring department, according to Renascença in 2017, Vida do Bombeiro (The Firefighter’s Life).
Shadow zones, or areas of network failure, were one of the criticisms of SIRESP. In cities anywhere, tall buildings tend to cause them, where they are a concern for 5G (the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks), and in rural areas, mountainous terrain, the site of Portugal’s wildfires.
The Center for Studies on Forest Fires report of the Great Fire of October 2017 also cited failures of SIRESP.
This summer, the government extended the 90-day deadline for submission of a technical study for the urgent replacement of SIRESP, but it did not set a new date for submission, reported Público (July 30).
The day after the April 28 blackout, the government admitted that there were failures in SIRESP after the power grid collapsed for about 11 hours across much of the country. Speaking to SIC Notícias, Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz stated:
"SIRESP didn't work 100 percent. There were failures. We have to learn lessons. But in 11 hours, we got the country back up and running."
In this year's fires, Mário Silvestre, commander of the Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Protecção (ANEPC) (National Authority of Emergency and Civil Protection), admitted the existence of "specific problems" in SIRESP. However, he rejected that these were failures in the emergency communications network," reported SIC Notícias (August 18).
Mário Silvestre, commander of ANEPC, which coordinates firefighting, said, "We have some peaks in terms of communication, but there are no failures in SIRESP. . . . There are specific problems, which often arise from the number of operators in the theater of operations, but they are quickly evaluated, the necessary measures are taken, and we recover normal communication capacity again."
There are many agencies involved in firefighting.
The team responsible for studying the replacement of SIRESP includes representatives of the Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Protecção (ANEPC) (National Authority of Emergency and Civil Protection); Agência para a Gestão Integrada da Fogos Rurais (AGIF) (Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires; Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM) (National Communications Authority); Forças Armadas (Armed Forces); GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana); PSP (Polícia Segurança Pública); INEM (Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica), among other entities.
More "Large-Scale Fires" More Frequently
Each wildfire is different, it is true. However, experts agree that the Pedrógão Grande and the Great Fire in October "were exceptional but not unique".
Yet, Xavier Viegas and his colleagues' in their 260-page Análise Dos Incêndios Florestais Ocorridos a 15 de Outubro de 2017 (January 2019) cautioned to expect more "large-scale fires, which, unfortunately, we assume will tend to be more and more frequent" and "the need to prepare populations" for their inevitability.
"We reiterate our conviction that the climate and meteorological circumstances in which the fires of June and October 2017 occurred were exceptional, but not unique. With the climate change we are experiencing, we must expect these circumstances, or similar ones, to be repeated. We cannot accept that the consequences in terms of personal injury -- let alone loss of life -- will be repeated."
What happened October 15-16, 2017?
"The country was experiencing a prolonged drought, a period when the operational structure was already partially demobilized, a very unusual meteorological phenomenon -- Hurricane Ophelia -- that was felt throughout the country, but especially in the central region, very strong and dry winds, which boosted the hundreds of ignitions that occurred on that day, producing several fires that together destroyed more than 220 thousand hectares in less than 24 hours, which is a record for Portugal.
"In the areas affected by the fires of October 15, the moisture content of the fire fuels was significantly lower than 10 percent, even reaching values close to 5 percent, thus creating extreme fire hazard conditions.
"We believe that some of the fires were caused by pre-existing fire flares that had not been properly monitored during the previous day. There were many ignitions resulting from agricultural burnings, caused by people who performed them due to the need to eliminate vegetation from agricultural activities, in the belief that rain would occur, as had been announced and, in fact, occurred, but only at the end of the 16th.
"From this situation resulted seven major fire complexes, produced by one or more ignitions, which propagated continuously, mainly on the 15th and part of the 16th, that we studied in detail in this Report.
"The seven CIFs (Complexo de Incêndios Florestais) studied were Lousã (54.41 kilohectares); Oliveira do Hospital (51.43 kilohectares); Sertã (30.98 kilohectares); Quiaios (23.84 kilohectares); Leiria (20.01 kilohectares); Seia (17.00 kilohectares), and Vouzela (15.96 kilohectares).
"Five of them together caused 51 fatalities (directly or indirectly) and all produced an environmental and property devastation like never before seen in Portugal. . .
"Although not excluding arsonist action at the origin of a large number of ignitions, it seems that many of them were due, as stated, to the intentional agricultural burning with the purpose of disposing accumulated fuel or agricultural waste.
"We cannot fail to mention the origin of the Lousã fire, which, according to the available data, is associated with the 15 kilovolt power line, managed by EDP near the village of Prilhão.
"The occurrence of strong winds like the ones related on October 15th significantly increases the probability of the occurrence of such accidents. As happened in the fire of Pedrógão Grande, this incident is a reminder for the management or regulatory entities of infrastructures established in rural areas, such as EDP, REN, IP, CP / REFER, ANACOM, for the need to properly manage these areas so that their infrastructure does not constitute a threat to the forest and also to ensure that they are adequately protected in the event of a forest fire."
Some Changes Since 2017
Since the 2017 fires, there have been proposals and some changes.
The land-cleaning regulations around houses and by a deadline also resulted from those fires.
In July 2021, the Portuguese government agreed to a transformational land project, covering 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) in 26 municipalities, designed to prevent forest fires.
There are four aspects of prevention: identifying landowners; creating firebreaks; crop diversification, and development of bio-industries (resins, textiles and footwear), according to Portugal’s government website. Less than 10 percent of the funds will be used to fight fires, said then-Prime Minister António Costa.
The European Union-funded Recuperation and Resilience Plan (PRR) project costs 615 million euros and is scheduled to last 20 years, according to the National Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives and Crédito Agrícola of Portugal (CONFAGRI) (July 19, 2021).
Fire drill in 2024 in the rural village of Seixas in Seixo da Beira Parish, Oliveira do Hospital Municipality (Photo from Rádio Boa Nova)
The Center for Studies on Forest Fires report of the Great Fire of 2017 presented the following recommendations, among others, to the commissioning government with the intention that they be disseminated to the public and authorities.
People should decide well in advance what to do in the event of a fire:
a. The elderly, sick, children and those who lack the physical or psychological capacity to make decisions for themselves should be evacuated to safe places in advance. More than one option should be considered for evacuation. Family and friends should be notified of this decision.
b. If people choose to remain in or near their homes, they must take the specific measures to ensure safety during the fire's passage and to eliminate any fires which persist afterwards.
c. If they are unable to evacuate safely, they should complete protective measures around the home, taking particular care of those in their household or neighborhood who require greater support.
Authorities should carefully consider the decision to order the evacuation of a location, building or even a home. When doing so, they must take the necessary measures to ensure that the people involved can do so in a safe and timely manner. An evacuation cannot be a mere escape.
We recommend avoiding general evacuations, forcing everyone to evacuate. We know that, in the vast majority of cases, there are people in the locality with the physical fitness and resources to remain and defend their property and, furthermore, a defended home has a much better chance of survival.
Many people reportedly avoided taking to the roads, either to escape or to help others, because they had become aware -- especially from the Pedrógão Grande experience -- that being on the road with fires nearby is not the best option, and that it is generally preferable to stay indoors. The fact that the fires occurred on a Sunday, when many people would be at home, may have contributed to this situation.
We have recorded many cases in which people misjudged or underestimated the behavior of the fire. Sometimes, knowing that the fire was developing several kilometers away, they didn't expect the fire to reach them so soon, or even at all. In these circumstances, it is recommended that people remain alert and stay informed, without actually risking "going to see where the fire is". Contact the authorities and people you know in other areas and remain alert until they are notified that the danger has passed. Ensure that people you know who need to be alerted or helped are also informed and ready to receive any alert, should circumstances change and action be necessary.
In the fires of October 15th, unlike those in Pedrógão Grande, a significant percentage of people lost their lives inside their homes. In some cases, they were caught by surprise by the fire while sleeping, without being warned in time that their houses and lives were in danger.
It is worth noting that several houses burned down some time later -- sometimes more than two hours -- after the fire had reached the town or the structure in question. Therefore, attention is drawn to the houses' weak points, which are generally the roofs, outbuildings, combustible material near the exterior walls, or even nearby houses in ruins.
In the case of industrial or business areas, we found that cleaning within the perimeter of the industrial area is not sufficient, as the surrounding vegetation must also be removed. While in domestic buildings, in most cases, the fire entered through the roofs of houses, in most industrial facilities, the fire entered through the existing or wind-created openings in the structures.
It was also found that many business facilities did not have fire insurance, and there were cases of facilities with an "all-risk insurance" policy that, to the surprise of the beneficiary, did not cover damage caused by forest fires.
8. We observed many cases of buildings which were hit by projections from a great distance, even without vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the building. This circumstance does not invalidate the importance or the need to clean the area around homes. In our study, we found that more than 90 percent of the structures analyzed had not taken any action to reduce vegetation in their surroundings. We also found that cleaning only a part of the perimeter is not enough: either you clean the entire perimeter, or you will not significantly reduce the risk of the building being hit by fire.
9. There were houses far from vegetation that burned due to the projection of incandescent particles from a long distance. This fact may lead people to question the value of cleaning the surrounding area, but we reiterate that it is always preferable to do so. Although the risk of a house burning down is not completely eliminated, the likelihood of fires in the building is incomparably higher if fuel management in the surrounding area has not been implemented.
Similarly, several forest patches without undergrowth (such as shrubs and herbaceous plants) were decimated by fire, leading many people to question the true benefit of these measures. Once again, we encourage people to continue with good agroforestry practices which involve fuel management in forest areas. Although the risk of fire is not completely eliminated, the likelihood of fire destruction is drastically reduced. Furthermore, clearing the tree undergrowth means that if the fire spreads there, it does so with less intensity, allowing for faster regeneration and less loss of value.
The fact that the fire reached many regions during the night contributed to fewer people taking to the roads. On the other hand, there were many cases of people being caught sleeping at home. This fact reinforces the need for individuals and families to remain alert. Within the community, one must be alert to people who may have disabilities -- visual, hearing, motor, or other -- which prevent them from noticing the proximity of the fire.
There have been cases of people losing their lives or suffering serious injuries while trying to save their domestic animals, pets or livestock. Therefore, it is important to ensure in advance that the animals have safe conditions in their stables or shelters. As a general rule, it is preferable to release the animals, allowing them the freedom to instinctively move away from the fire. It has been found that, in some cases, the animals preferred to remain in their usual locations, which reinforces the need to ensure that they have the minimum protective conditions. In any case, it should be borne in mind that no matter how valuable one or more animals may be, they do not justify the sacrifice of a person's physical integrity or life.
We also have recorded several cases of people who lost their lives trying to save a car, a tractor or other property. What was said about animals is reiterated, regarding the need to have safe conditions for these resources in the event of a fire. It is preferable to keep vehicles stored in enclosed, covered areas. If this is not possible, they should be parked away from the house and, if possible, away from vegetation or other materials which could endanger these assets.
Given people's lack of understanding of fire behavior, we found it particularly serious to be unaware of what we call "eruptive behavior", which frequently occurs in canyons or steep slopes. In these episodes, fires tend to dramatically increase their speed of growth, surprising people, which has caused many fatal accidents in the past, Therefore, one should avoid staying or traveling -- even in a vehicle -- near or over slopes or canyons with fire and vegetation below, even if there appears to be time to escape.
You should follow the advice of more experienced people regarding whether to remain in a given place and whether to move from one point to another if a fire is nearby. In the case of police or municipal authorities, their instructions should be followed immediately, as they are orders.
In the event of a fire, it is always advisable not to remain alone. You should seek, well in advance, to gather with other trusted people for mutual support, even if it means sacrificing some of your own resources. If you have to move to meet other people, make sure you can do so safely. Otherwise, it is preferable to remain where you are.
When near a fire, avoid walking alone or separating from your group. If someone needs to leave the group, they should notify in advance what they are going to do and where they intend to go.
Throughout the report, we describe several situations in which locals confess to having spotted fires early without having alerted them because they believed that someone else had already done so. Sometimes, the initial attack on fires was delayed by several tens of minutes for this reason. On a purely intuitive level, we believe that this is a growing trend which deserves attention from operational and political entities. At a time of widespread use of cell phones, where alerts are mostly made by locals rather than by lookout posts, it is crucial that this important tool be maximized. It is also worth noting that since this series of fires occurred at a later time of year with a massive demobilization of watch posts, public alerts took on even greater relevance.
In several situations where fire approached or reached homes, we found that the presence of gas cylinders in the immediate vicinity or inside them may have played a significant role in the degree of destruction of the structure or, in some cases, in the personal safety of the occupants, including firefighters who protected these homes. Therefore, recommendations should be made regarding the care to be taken in locating and safeguarding these containers. Furthermore, building regulations in areas with a higher risk of fire should consider a safe storage location for gas cylinders as well as other materials and equipment at risk of explosion.
Do Not Burn
At the time of this writing on September 3, there was a fire in progress at Santo António dos Cavaleiros e Frielas, Loures, Lisbon at 7:24. At 6:56, it had been resolution after it had been reported at 6:16.
Experts have warned landowners not to burn agricultural waste, even with the cooler temperatures of last week and this week because the ground is so dry.
When I requested approval to burn, the ICNF permission site, at fogos.pt, refused to grant it, with this message, banning fires through September 30:
"A Câmara Municipal estabeleceu que não podem ser realizadas queimas no concelho/freguesia indicados entre 2025-06-01 e 2025-09-30."
The ICNF permission site was installed after the 2017 fires. There is a fine for burning without permission.
Also, since then, Civil Protection (ANEPC) sends SMS messages to alert people to high fire-risk conditions. It also sends messages advising people to stay home for their safety.
Whatever the changes, be well prepared for wildfires in advance and outside of a state of shock and panic.
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