VZCZCXRO2794
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHLI #1554/01 2081227
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271227Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY LISBON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5021
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LISBON 001554 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA FOREST SERVICE FOR DALE DAGUE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID EU PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGAL'S 2006 FOREST FIRE SEASON: BETTER THAN 
2005 BUT SUMMER NOT OVER YET 
 
REF: A) 05 LISBON 1467 B) 04 LISBON 1278 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) Portugal has experienced significantly fewer forest 
fires in comparison to the same period last year.  However, 
the summer is only halfway over and the temperatures continue 
to rise.  American technical assistance demonstrated its 
value when a fire break created by the United States Forest 
Service in March recently prevented a 300 hectare fire from 
becoming a 3000 hectare conflagration.  The Ministry of 
Interior credits these efforts as well as improved detection 
and early response for the reduced incidence of fires this 
year.  Others, including the Minister of Agriculture's 
Special Advisor on Forest Fires Tiago Oliveira, claim that 
the current structure for fire prevention and suppression 
remains intrinsically flawed.  The 2006 fire season has 
claimed six casualties:  five Chilean professional 
firefighters and one Portuguese volunteer firefighter.  To 
stop such deaths and preserve the forest, the Portuguese 
Forest Service has launched a new forest fire awareness 
campaign.  End Summary. 
 
Less Forest Fires this Year 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) As of July 18, the Ministry of Agriculture's 
Directorate of Forest Resources (DGRF) had registered 9,108 
fire ignitions this year, resulting in a total burnt area of 
9,560 hectares.  Fifty-eight percent of the total land burnt 
stemmed from 17 fires more than 100 hectares in size.  During 
the same period last year, there were 17,324 ignitions with a 
loss of 30,597 hectares of land.  The hardest hit areas 
include the northern districts of Braga, Porto, and Vila 
Real.  Better meteorological conditions, including winter 
rains more on par with historical averages and a milder start 
to the summer, greatly contributed to the reduced incidence 
of forest fires thus far in 2006.  However, Minister of 
Interior Antonio Costa has insisted repeatedly in the press 
that improved vigilance and quicker responses stopped many 
small fires from turning into conflagrations.  Since 1995, 
fires have destroyed 21% of Portugal's forests. 
 
USDA Technical Assistance Reaps Rewards 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) A fire break created by a United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) team stopped a forest fire in northern 
Portugal from descending down into a valley, thus preventing 
a 300 hectare fire from expanding into a 3000 hectare fire. 
In February and March, a team of five USDA Forest Service 
experts in prescribed burns worked alongside the Portuguese 
Forest Service on controlled burns, fire breaks, and other 
forest fire prevention activities.  Following the visit, the 
USDA Forest Service donated 300 surplus fire-resistant, Nomex 
pants to the Portuguese to better equip firefighters.  The 
pants arrived in July, and the Portuguese government 
expressed its thanks through a diplomatic note. 
 
Vigilance Only Part of the Solution 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) PolEconoff recently visited the state-of-the-art 
Surveillance and Warning Division of the National Service for 
Fire and Civil Protection, currently run by International 
Visitor Program candidate Pedro Patricio.  The center 
monitors all activities related to forest fires and other 
disasters including monitoring calls from the municipalities, 
tracking the movement of helicopters and firefighters, and 
collecting data from remote cameras. Patricio commented on 
the fairly quiet fire season thus far, but predicted the 
situation would worsen once the "30 rule" prevails:  when the 
wind blows from the east at more than 30 km/hour, humidity 
levels are under 30%, and the temperature is above 30 degrees 
Celsius. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) According to Patricio, the current detection and 
response system functions well with small fires.  Any forest 
fire that fails to be contained within twelve hours becomes a 
catastrophe.  He blamed the unavailability of volunteer 
firefighters and the lack of coordination and command as two 
main weaknesses for quickly combating forest fires.  Given 
the small number of professional firefighters usually located 
in urban areas, Portugal relies on volunteers and forest 
association workers (sapadores florestais) to tackle forest 
 
LISBON 00001554  002 OF 003 
 
 
fires.  Portugal has more than 40,000 registered volunteer 
firefighters and more than 400 volunteer associations, but 
this fails to represent the actual availability of the people 
during a forest fire.  In 2005, the highest number of 
volunteer firefighters available throughout the whole country 
on any given day was 3,000.  Coupled with the lack of 
manpower, coordination and command during a forest fire 
continues to be a problem.  Patricio stated that some 
improvements had been made with the addition of more command 
positions at both the national and district level.  However, 
authorities and firefighters at the municipal level still 
chafe at taking orders from anyone brought in from the 
outside to take overall command of a forest fire response. 
Only time and improved training for incoming firefighters 
would change this mindset. 
 
Casualties 
---------- 
 
¶6. (U) Five Chilean firefighters and one Portuguese volunteer 
firefighter were the first casualties of the 2006 forest fire 
season.  They died July 9 fighting a fire in Familicao da 
Serra, near the northwestern border with Spain.  The Chileans 
worked for Afocela, an association created by cellulose 
producing companies to protect their forest lands.  Part of a 
helicopter advance team, the Chileans were trying to open up 
a vehicle and water route to the fire when they were 
surrounded by flames.  Interior Minister Costa interrupted 
his trip to the Europe-Africa Summit on Immigration in Rabat 
to travel to the scene.  Initial reports indicate that lack 
of coordination on the ground as well as the changing fire 
behavior contributed to the deaths. 
 
Agriculture Minister's Forest Fire Advisor Resigns 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The Minister of Agriculture's Forest Fire Advisor, 
Tiago Oliveira, resigned from his position June 30 to return 
to the private sector.  The driving force behind The National 
Plan for the Defense of Forests against Fires (reftel A) and 
forest fire prevention efforts in Portugal, Oliveira believed 
that, while some progress has been made over the past three 
years, much more could have been accomplished.  He expressed 
frustration that many of the recommendations outlined by USDA 
Forest Fire officials Mark Beighley and Michael Quisenberry 
in their August 2004 report (reftel B) had still not been 
implemented due to political pressures and in-fighting.  The 
Ministry of Interior and the fire-fighters continue to resist 
the creation of any organizational unit outside their direct 
control.  The Ministry of Interior is responsible for fire 
suppression, while the Ministry of Agriculture has the lead 
on prevention efforts.  According to Oliveira, the Minister 
of Agriculture decided in early 2006 not to fight for these 
two responsibilities to be placed under only one 
organizational entity, choosing instead to focus his 
political capital on pushing domestic agriculture and CAP 
reform. 
 
Public Awareness Campaign Launched 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) In June, the Ministry of Agriculture's Directorate of 
Forest Resources (DGRF) launched a new public awareness 
campaign, entitled "Between Ash and Green: You Decide". 
Through television, radio, and newspaper announcements, the 
campaign aims to increase awareness of the economic and 
ecological importance of the forests as well as human actions 
that cause forest fires.  Specific demographic groups 
targeted include hunters, farmers, forest owners, the youth, 
and campers.  DGRF hopes to emphasis that behaviors once 
considered the norm and acceptable in the past (i.e. burning 
trash in fields, unattended camp fires) now pose too much of 
a fire risk due to changing climatic conditions, overgrowth 
of farm and forest lands due to the exodus of farmers to 
towns, and current land-use patterns. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶9.  (U)  Milder weather, better rains, and a bit of luck 
rather than a new comprehensive fire prevention and 
suppression program account for the lower incidence of forest 
fires so far this year.  USDA technical assistance 
demonstrated the value of controlled burns and forest fire 
prevention, and some progress has been made in improving the 
command and control structure.  However, until there is 
greater political will to place responsibility for both 
prevention and suppression under a single entity, any actions 
undertaken are likely only to serve as a temporary solution 
 
LISBON 00001554  003 OF 003 
 
 
to the forest fire problem in Portugal. 
Hoffman