Wild Fires have always been with us. They are a natural feature of seasonal weather with an unpredictability due to the complex effects of higher temperatures, force and direction of winds, humidity and prolonged drought. Their intensity during the last one hundred years has increased largely due to the intervention (sometimes accidental but often intentional) of humankind to become part of a global problem linked to climatic change. They present a short-term challenge to our civilisation.

In Australia, the summer season commenced in December 2025 with an outbreak of bush fires in some locations of New South Wales and has spread rapidly to other states where similar savagery was experienced in year 2020. However, the risk to people. their property and to the natural environment has been diminished due to the programme of prevention which began five years ago and was partly based on observations of the increasing severity in the countries of southern Europe.

Undoubtedly this is due to the creation of a central command for civil defence with national superiority. A new firefighting force employing the latest equipment and specialist techniques has swift mobility to enable urgent assistance to regional forces. Additionally, it is operational in all seasons when it is occupied with aerial surveillance of forestry and the planning of a defensive strategy.

The Australian philosophy is that inevitable climatic changes will worsen situations and there is little that can be done to prevent wild fires spreading; especially in hazardous, hilly terrain. Instead, this strategy concentrates on the suppression in urban vicinities. In addition to the traditional means of building local reservoirs to serve a chain of hydrants, the new emphasis is on the use of prescribed burning which is the planned intentional use of fire by trained experts to not only create firebreaks but to clear land of invasive species and the detritus which fuels fire at ground level.

Although Australia does not have the Portuguese difficulty of myriad smallholdings abandoned to the wild, it has installed a system whereby all identifiable landowners can be held legally responsible for good management by planting native, fire resistant species and instituting a seasonal schedule of cleaning. Confiscation of “wilderness land” and the imposition of fines are justifiable as such laxity is considered to be a negative form of arson.

In the case of large plantations owned by agro-industrial entities, concentrations of inflammable pine and eucalyptus are discouraged in favour of hardwood species. Subsidies are paid for the construction of firebreaks and roads but nothing is now paid to compensate for lower prices obtainable for scorched timber.

Constructions at the intersection of urban and forest must now use only fire-resistant materials and tourist villages of log cabins within wooded areas are banned. Indeed, access to such areas is restricted with large fines being payable for rough camping and possession of combustible material.

The aerial combat of fires continues to be of high importance. The year-round availability of specially constructed equipment and experienced pilots is essential for tackling the blazes and for off-season surveillance. Maintenance schedules are progressive to ensure that the fleet is always operational

The super scooper light aircraft are especially suitable as they can be quickly stationed at most lake or river locations and require only a clear water runway of 1.5 km to scoop, in twelve seconds, more than 5,000 litres. On one tank of fuel, an hourly cycle can achieve up to twenty drops on the perimeters of nearby lines of fire.

For pinpoint accuracy in deflecting blazes from buildings, the Australians use powerful helicopters such as the Bell 212 and 350B2 models. To spread chemical retardants over a wider area. heavier airplanes are still used for “carpet bombing”. Operations for all such aircraft are restricted in bad weather, vertical eddies of heated air and whirlwinds.

None of these measures can be effective in the case of crown (tree-top) fires; once these have taken hold one can only hope that fire-breaks will contain the severity until rain and/or zero wind-speed can bring natural relief.

Portuguese firefighters have pursued limited policies of prevention in the off-season but can still learn much from the Australians. The combat of wildfires is a matter of national security and demands appropriate public spending and disciplinary action.

The escalating degradation of forestry, peatland and pastures is of grave concern because of the reduced capacity to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions created by industries. For each hectare destroyed by wildfire fourteen tons of CO2 are emitted. In the tragic year of 2017 fifteen million tons were lost to the atmosphere. Portugal ceased to be a sumidouro of absorption and became a negative contributor to the “greenhouse” effect which is the basis for climatic change.

In addition to observing the precautions which I have listed above, citizens now need to change their mindset to the traditional uses of wood. We need to wean ourselves from the enjoyment of log fires and the use of timber (especially hardwoods) for furniture, fittings and construction and reduce the production of paper except where it may be used in place of evil plastic.

But, in the end, the greatest reform will be a planned reduction in demand to conform with a sustainable supply to a stabilized and gradually reduced population.

An Essay by Roberto Cavaleiro. Tomar, 12 January 2026