Number of municipalities with active fire outbreaks drops to 6; Lula government talks about intentional action
The number of cities on maximum alert for fires in the State of São Paulo rose to 48 this Sunday (Aug. 25, 2024). The number of cities with active fires fell to 6.
The data is from CGE (Civil Defense Emergency Management Center. Highways that were closed due to smoke have been reopened.
The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silvastated this Sunday (August 25) that there is a strong suspicion of intentional action in the fires registered in São Paulo. He denied that there was any failure on the part of the president’s government Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) in preventing fires.
“Unlike deforestation, you don’t have an agent inside your farm or your house to see if he’s going to set it on fire. Therefore, you can’t say it was a mistake because awareness campaigns and all the processes are being carried out, which is why investigations are underway to determine whether there was intentional action in the case of São Paulo. In other cases, there are strong suspicions of intentional action. In São Paulo as well, that’s why it’s being investigated.”declared Marina.
The minister stated that the PF (Federal Police) opened 31 inquiries to investigate the fires in the Amazon, the Pantanal (29 investigations) and the State of São Paulo (2 investigations).
“This is an atypical situation. In one week, practically in two days, you start to see several municipalities burning at the same time. This is not part of our experience curve.”said Marina.
The minister and Lula visited the headquarters of Prevfogo (National Center for the Prevention and Fighting of Forest Fires), in Brasília. The minister Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) followed.
CRIMINAL ACTION
The general director of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, said that there was a criminal action that “will be punished with all the severity that the law offers”. He highlighted that the smoke covering Brasilia harms the lungs of children and the elderly.
According to him, there is a movement “atypical”but the final conclusions can only be released after the end of the investigation.
MAXIMUM ALERT
The government of Tarcisio de Freitas (Republicans) created a crisis cabinet on Friday (23 August) to manage actions to monitor and control the situation.
On Sunday (August 25), the Ministry of Regional Development sent planes to fight the fires in São Paulo. Minister Waldez Góes said that one of them has the capacity to transport up to 12,000 liters of water on each flight.
Low humidity and a heat wave are increasing the risk of new outbreaks. The fires have covered several cities with smoke, especially in the Ribeirão Preto region (SP). They resulted in the death of two employees at a plant in Urupês, who were trying to fight the flames.
At the end of the afternoon on Friday (23 August), air quality plummeted, with the sky over the capital of São Paulo taking on a reddish hue, an optical phenomenon caused by the refraction of solar rays in the dust and soot from the fires.
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Watch images of the fires shared on social media (2min18s):
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