Arsonists blamed on 2 Firefighter Deaths in Spain

Two Spanish Firefighters Murdered on Duty in Night Forest Fire in Galicia

Last night we lost two brave young men in Galicia, Firefighter Julio Martínez Da Silva, 27 & Firefighter Rodrigo Amo González, 35, while on duty as part of a shock force to assess the spread of a night fire starting some minutes earlier in Fornelos de Montes, Pontevedra.

Fornelos de Montes Killer forest fire location and Fire Risk Charts for Atlantic Iberia, courtesy Consellería do Medio Rural - Xunta de Galicia & Instituto de Metereología, Government of Portugal (Click image to enlarge)

According to Fornelos de Montes local authorities, there had been previous arson attempts during the day in the area where the night fire started.

Two Firefighters die on duty in Galicia

Spanish National TV early morning report on Killer Fire at Fornelos de Montes (Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain). Courtesy RadioTelevisión Española (Click play to watch the video)

After painstaking efforts during the night, the Fornelos de Montes fire was finally controlled during Friday morning and put out without further casualties or property damage after burning some 100 hectares of scrubland and sparse tree cover.

Night fire causing 2 Firefighter Deaths in Spain, likely intentional

Spanish National TV afternoon report from Fornelos de Montes, after Galician Regional Government public condemnation of arson criminal acts. Courtesy RadioTelevisión Española (Click play to watch the video)

From here, our deepest condolences to the families of the fallen heroes, and our support to the more than 6,000 Galician Firefighters & Spanish Army Brigadists deployed in Galicia bravely risking their lives each day to protect us all. May the murderers be hunt and brought to Court.

Galician Government Condemns Forest Fire Criminals

(Click image to watch video, courtesy RTVE)

"We will keep working to hunt arsonists. It is a priority to put an end to these criminal activities in our forestlands, and we will increase all efforts so the fight against arsonists keeps being implacable. Forest criminal actions must be detected and their authors must be persecuted and convicted. We will keep working in this Battle against Fire." - Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, Galicia's President.

Galician Government reports criminal fire ignited in 3 simultaneous seats

State Attorneys to Prosecute Environmentalist Crimes

"I do not doubt for a second that the National Environment Attorney Office works daily, 365 days per year, to arrest and convict whenever possible, those responsible of environmentalist crime, which includes forest fires" - Elena Espinosa, Minister of Environment, Rural Affairs & Fisheries, Government of Spain.

Useful Resources: Forest Fire Remote Sensing

You can review online the current state of Global Forest Fires using FAO's Natural Resources & Environment Department interactive tool GFIMS - Global Fire Information Management System, developed with NASA's MODIS Satellite Warning System. Silvicultor has kindly placed a permanent GFIMS Forest Fire Detection Satellite Eye on Northwestern Spain & Northern Portugal at Aula Silvicultura in case you want to track forest fire events in Iberia.

You can also find at NASA's online platform an archive of 10-day Global Fire Maps generated using the MODIS Rapid Response System, displaying fire locations to represent the current global fire activity across the world.

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