Road management company Ascendi and electricity supply company EDP, both blamed for their part in the Pedrógão Grande fire this summer that killed more than 60 people, technically may be blameless.
Fernanda Paula Oliveira, a professor of Administrative Law at the University of Coimbra, has looked into the laws covering the obligations of Ascendi to keep the area alongside public roads clear of trees and of EDP to keep the area under power lines free of trees and combustible materials.
The professor's legal opinion is that the companies are not liable and they were under no obligation at all to keep these areas clear. The law states that an area of 10 metres either side of a public road should be free of trees so that if a tree falls, it will not block the road. All well and good, but the law states also that local authorities must have in place an approved Municipal Plan for Defence of the Forest against Fire - neither Castanheira de Pêra or Pedrógão Grande has these in place so EDP and Ascendi had no legal obligation to clean up areas that had not been classified as forest and included in the plan.
Fernanda Paula Oliveira said that the summer fires may force further changes in the law but the conclusion is that the companies can walk away from the blame for the fires, in which their negligence played a full role. In the case of Pedrógão Grande, the local fire plan lapsed in 2011 so the forest area was not "administratively identified in advance."
Ascendi asked the legal expert to look at its responsibilities after the fire of Pedrógão Grande. More than 40 people died on the EN236 where some of the trees planted up to the the verge had fallen across the road, preventing their escape.
The law professor's conclusion means that the same get-out clause applies to EDP as without an approved municipal plan, its cleaning obligations did not apply.
Oliveira said these laws have several problems and that she has been highlighting them for years, adding that Parliament only changed the laws after the fire at Pedrógão Grande.
"If a law says that there is an obligation to clean up and that a plan says where must clean, of course that until there is a plan there are no obligations to clean," argues the professor, admitting that this is a problem because municipal plans are bureaucratic and involve both the municipality and the Institute of Conservation of Nature and Forests.
The report into the Pedrógão Grande fire submitted to government concluded that fallen trees on the EN236 was the cause of many of the deaths as this prevented drivers continuing along the road to safety.
Ascendi has offered no comment and EDP is sticking to its claim that the land under its power lines was clean and that it was not responsible for starting any fires.
In response, the mayor of Pedrógão Grande stated today that the municipal forest fire defense plan was up to date.
"Our plan has been in force since 2007. We decided to do a new one in 2014. It is still to be approved by the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forests but the other (2007) plan was recognised by the independent commission," said mayor Valdemar Alves, reacting to the news that the local fire plan has not been agreed.