José Coelho / Lusa
Suspect of 31 years was arrested on Thursday by fires in June and July. Will have set the fire with the use of retarding artifacts.
A firefighter from the Corporation of Volunteer Firefighters Ourm was arrested by the Judicial Police (PJ) suspected of being the author of at least Four fires Forests in this county, in June and July, was announced this Thursday.
In the PJ states that, through its Department of Criminal Investigation of Leiria, and with the support of the Working Group for the reduction of ignitions of the central coastal region, the 31-year-old suspect detained on Wednesday.
According to the PJ, the forest fires took place on June 26, and July 1, 17 and 19.
“The suspect (…) [terá ateado] the fire with Use of retarding artifactsin a zone with vast forest spot, populated with bread pine tree, oaks, eucalyptus and bush, with several housing clusters and commercial complexes proximity, ”explains the statement.
PJ says that “The burning area was considerable”also noting that “were it not for the rapid and effective intervention of local firefighters, the fires could have had more serious proportions.”
The investigation suspects that the same firefighter is the author of other forest fires in the same municipality of the Santarém district, meeting the spatio-temporal standard and mode of action.
The defendant, resident in the area of Ourém, It has no criminal record And it will be present to the competent judicial authority, for any application of other coercion measures.
To the Lusa agency, a source of the board of the PJ center, based in Coimbra, said that the investigation believes that the defendant would produce the artifacts themselves used, meeting the objects seized in the course of the search.
According to the same source, the investigation admits that The suspect’s action will have due to pecuniary benefits that he could have when activated to combat the fires.
The detention was supported by the Working Group to reduce ignitions of the Centro Coastal region, which includes PJ, Republican National Guard and Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests.
The commander of the Volunteer Firefighters of Ourém, Guilherme Isidro, explained that “the PJ, following the investigation, made steps with a firefighter of this corporation and here in the corporation, as regards the personal belongings of the firefighter, who was eventually detained.”
“The corporation will always be available to collaborate with the authorities in what is their investigation work and is serenity with the full clarification of the situation,” said Guilherme Isidro.
This guardian clarified that the detained firefighter is volunteer in the corporation for six years and an employee of the Humanitarian Association of Ourem Volunteer Firefighters.
“In this period, it was always a fulfilling element of their obligations,” said the commander. According to GNR, until July 31, 36 people were arrested in the act of crime and 525 people identified for the crime of rural fire, Also, in this period, 2 979 fire crimes were registered.
A quarter of the rural fires investigated this year originated the fire and the burned area until July records the third highest value since 2015according to the Institute of Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF).
