When fire gains the strength of a giant
An account of a day covering the fire in Vila de Rei. The power of the flames, the threat to the village of Penedo, the courage of its residents and the Spaniards’ backfire, essential to stopping the blaze.
On Monday, the Tomar TV team set off from Tomar with cameras and microphones. On the horizon rose a cloud of smoke, as if there were a war far off. Along the way, kilometre after kilometre of freshly painted black landscape. We passed Lago Azul, in Ferreira do Zêzere, which had ceased to exist in the fire the day before. When we reached Vila de Rei, it was a different war.
The fire was raging. We found a road that led to the fire and took it. It took just a minute for the road we had come along to turn into an inferno. The fire clung to the eucalyptus and acacia trees. It burned at the base of the pines and spread fast. A moment later, there was no sign of the firefighters who had been at the junction. The three of us were left on our own, at our own risk. With the smoke, which stings your nose and makes your eyes water.
AI translation from the Portuguese. First published in ECO on 16 August 2017.