The Town Hall of Tondela, together with a lecturer from the University of Aveiro, is preparing measures to mitigate the effects of the wildfire that affected villages on the Caramulo mountainside at the beginning of the month.
According to a press release, the Town Hall of Tondela, in the Viseu district, “has already begun working with researcher and professor at the University of Aveiro Carlos Fonseca in preparing a package of measures after the fire’s passage” on the Caramulo slope, specifically in the Union of Parishes of S. João do Monte and Mosteirinho.
This wildfire that affected the Caramulo mountain range began at 03:04 on the 2nd in Tourelhe, parish of Cambra and Carvalhal de Ermidas, in the municipality of Vouzela, also in the Viseu district, and was brought under control at 12:40 on the 5th.
With more than 15,000 hectares destroyed, the fire, so far the largest of the year and which caused two serious injuries and six minor injuries, was fought by more than 1,200 personnel and reached the municipalities of Vouzela, Tondela and Oliveira de Frades, in the Viseu district, and Águeda, in the Aveiro district.
In today’s municipal executive meeting, the president of the Tondela Town Hall, Carla Antunes Borges, introduced the university lecturer, a specialist in landscape restoration who had joined the Independent Technical Commission for the fires of 2017.
Carlos Fonseca was also the director of the Collaborative Laboratory for Integrated Forest and Fire Management and, at the start of this week, visited the site and met with the municipal executive of Tondela.
“What has been established and what was requested of him is to present a set of measures for assessing the impacts as a first line and then to present a set of measures to mitigate the effects and impacts of the fire,” Carla Antunes Borges said, quoted in the press release.
The mayor admitted “knowing well the impact the fire had” in that area of the municipality, namely “on water quality and the negative impact it will have on erosion of the slopes” of the Caramulo mountain range.
In addition to the post-fire action plan for the Union of Parishes of S. João do Monte and Mosteirinho, Carlos Fonseca was also “tasked with designing a study and an intervention for containment belts near the industrial areas” of Lajedo and Adiça.
“The idea is to promote the establishment of an indigenous, resilient and mitigating vegetation, creating a belt and a protective crown around the areas hosting business activity. In addition to mandatory fuel management, we also want to participate in the ecological enhancement of the territory’s ecosystem,” he explained.
In yesterday’s public meeting, Carla Antunes Borges stated that the municipal executive did not “give up” after the fire that affected the municipality and left a “very significant burnt area,” in a “value and extent” enormous.
Initial estimates point to losses of around 7.5 million euros and a burnt area of 1,500 hectares.
Among the work carried out and completed is “the replacement of the Caselho water reservoir, the replacement of this conduit and rehabilitation work on the intake that involved the execution of a slope-stabilization project and cleaning of the intake”.
“We also assisted the union of parishes with the provision of piping to replace several sections of the fountain network, an essential network for firefighting and for irrigating agricultural properties.”
