Portugal announces measures to avoid further forest fire tragedies

Portugal announces measures to avoid further forest fire tragedies

07 November 2018

Published by http://theportugalnews.com/

PORTUGAL – Portugal’s internal affairs minister said on Tuesday that the National Republican Guard (GNR) is to get another 300 officers for its prevention and rescue intervention squad, in an effort to combat deadly wildfires.

Eduardo Cabrita also said the country was creating 40 permanent intervention teams in the country’s fire service next year.

Cabrita, who was speaking during a press conference at the National Authority for Civil Protection, in Oeiras, around 18km from Lisbon, added that next year the forest guard team would also have 200 more members.

The move is part of a government effort to avoid more tragedies caused by forest fires, which killed 114 people last year, by shifting firefighting from volunteers to professionals.