The mayor of Covilhã decreed three days of municipal mourning after the death of a firefighter in an accident while heading to fight a fire. The mayor expressed deep dismay and regret for the succeed.
O Mayor of Covilhã expressed this Sunday “deep dismay and weighing” that moved to the fire front, next to the village of St. Francis of Assisi, and decreed three days of municipal mourning.
In a note sent to the Lusa Agency, the mayor of Covilhã, Vitor Pereira, said he decided to “decree three days of municipal mourning, which will be respected from this Monday”.
“It was with deep dismay and regret that the Covilhã City Council became aware of the death of a Firefighter of the Covilhã Volunteer Firefighters Association, the victim of a fire-fighting vehicle, while moving to a fire front,” reads the note.
Following the accident, four firefighters were also injured, one of which is serious.
In the note, the mayor wishes “a quick recovery” to the injured and on behalf of the entire executive, “expresses the most sense condolences to the family, the Covilhã Volunteer Fire Department and all the firefighters and civil protection agents who continue, at this point, to combat fire fronts in the Covilhã municipality and throughout the country.”
Continental Portugal has been affected by multiple rural fires since July, especially in the North and Center, in a context of high temperatures that motivated the statement of the state of alert since August 2.
The fires caused two dead, including a firefighter, and several injured, mostly without gravity, and destroyed full or partially first and second housing houses, as well as agricultural and livestock explorations and forest area.
Portugal activated the European Civil Protection mechanism, under which, on Monday, two Fire Boss aircraft to reinforce fire fighting will arrive. According to provisional official data, by 17 August 172 thousand hectares burned in the country, more than the area burned throughout 2024.
