The court in Alenquer, just to the north of Lisbon, decided last week that two local firefighters, suspected of setting at least a dozen fires in the area from early last summer, will be held in custody until their court appearance.
The two men, aged 20 and 23, are suspected of causing at least a forest and urban fires, one of which needed assistance from aircraft to put out.
This major fire, last September, caused injuries to a firefighter and a forestry worker, threatened five houses and needed three aircraft, 42 vehicles and 150 firefighters to put it out.
The police said that the two firefighters, one a professional and the other a volunteer, set fires so they would be called in to tackle them, thus earning more money.
A police investigation was triggered by locals reporting two suspicious vehicles in the areas where fires broke out.
To set the fires, the pair are alleged to have used gasoline, which they sprinkled in isolated areas of bush, and then set light to it.
The commander of the Alenquer Bombeiros, Rodolfo Baptista, said that he had never suspected the two men, but, when he was made aware of the suspicions, he suspended them from duty and has been collaborating with the police.
Comments
However, people's lives and the environment must take precedence and if this is the case, then government may need to give extra budget if only for the time of extreme fire alert.
I remember the Monchique area fires, possibly the same (?) when the ash fell gently across the area, blocking out the sunshine. I was in the Carvoeiro area at that time so could see the hills alight at night and the weird half-light during the daytime - rather apocalyptic..