Bringing shame to the uniform, a former volunteer firefighter of fourteen years standing has been arrested and charged with starting 16 fires in Proença-a-Nova in the Castelo Branco region.
The 46-year-old was arrested by the Judicial Police who said the man is implicated in the deliberate setting of multiple forest fires between July and September this year.
The police admitted that the warehouse worker also had been a volunteer firefighter until last year and had admitted to driving around hurling home-made firebombs out of his car window into forested areas.
The damage caused has been significant with fires burning pine, eucalyptus, cork oaks and olive trees standing over at least 100 hectares.
The detainee will be presented to court for initial questioning and to see whether he is held on remand or bailed, pending his trial. His excuse that he was 'permanently anxious' may not be received too sympathetically.
The police say that this year its officers have identified and arrested 72 people for starting forest fires, including the barman from Loulé who managed to destroy 2,500 hectares in the Algarve’s Monchique hills.
