Portuguese PM sees need to rethink civil protection system after wildfires
Montenegro recognised that an assessment should be made of the current system, "how it can or cannot generate better coordination, better operational capacity, how it can prevent more events (...)”.
The prime minister, Luís Montenegro, acknowledged on Thursday the need to reflect on the current Civil Protection system and its operational capacity, but considered that now is not the right time because there are still operatives on the ground.
Speaking at a press conference after an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Viseu, Luís Montenegro was asked about the operational reorganisation of Civil Protection in terms of the territorial division of the command system and the possibility of the State having its own fleet of air resources.
“Both issues are very pertinent. The first, moreover, has a literal presence in the government’s programme”, he said. With regard to the second, the prime minister said that it was a reflection on “the Civil Protection system and its operational capacity”.
“But, frankly, at a time when this system is in full operation, when the operatives are carrying out the task of leading it in defence and protection of our safety, our lives and our heritage, it is not appropriate, and I am not going to violate my principle here, to be promoting this discussion on this occasion”, he explained.
Luís Montenegro recognised that an assessment should be made of the current system, “how it can or cannot generate better coordination, better operational capacity, how it can prevent more events or the scale of them”. “All of this should be analysed in depth so that the political and legislative powers can then decide”, he said.
The prime minister said that the number of incidents between 1 and 20 August was up 65% on the same period in 2024.
“We had 1,902 incidents, which is 753 more than the 1,149 we had. In other words, the challenge was much greater in terms of the number of incidents”, he emphasised.
According to Montenegro, given the severity of the weather, the increase in the number of incidents and the consecutive days of fires, it was necessary to “mobilise specific operatives for tasks on the ground, in a quantity that was 129% higher”. “So we sent 129% more operatives to theatres of operations than we had sent on the same 20 days a year ago,” he said.
With regard to the commitment of air resources, the prime minister said that “it’s an issue that is always being debated”, even with the operational constraints.
“We have slightly more air resources than we had last year, but the work they did was 210% more than a year ago”, he emphasised.
