Hay on the park ground fed fire in Wanderings – publico

 
         

                 

                         
                     

                         

                 

 
 

The land that served as Andanças festival car park, which took place at Dam Varzim, Castelo de Vide municipality, Portalegre was little clean before the event starts, but the vegetation that was in place was not withdrawn. This meant that the ground would become a kind of bed of hay that was essential to explain the scale of the damage caused by the fire: 458 vehicles damaged by accounts of the GNR, of which at least 422 totally destroyed, according to the National Civil Protection Authority .

This is one of the issues that are being considered by the Judicial Police, who early noticed the abnormal spread the fire, on the 3rd, had and has also been stressed by other experts who examined the site fire.

the cleaning was done by sappers of Castelo de Vide Chamber, under an agreement made between the municipality and the organization of the Wanderings. But the mayor, António Nobre Pita, refuses any responsibility. “In fact the work was done by sappers municipal, guided by the municipal operational commander, but following the organization’s own instructions,” said the mayor, who added that the work also participated in an agricultural machine hired by the festival organization.

Without clearly assume that the bed of hay was placed intentionally, Noble Pita says that the organization always saw the dust on the park ground as a problem, due to multiple complaints received in previous years.

Grace Gonçalves, the organization’s Wanderings, ensures that no one festival gave instructions for cleaning, or ask for the cut vegetation be kept on site. “Just ask the chamber to cut the grass. But did not give specific instructions to the coordinator of the work, “notes Graça Gonçalves. The executive coordinator of the festival regrets “a series of misfortunes” that contributed to this mantle has formed. First the abundant rain that fell during the winter and spring, responsible for an abnormal growth of vegetation after the fact, for various vicissitudes, the grass has been cut too over the festival. “In other years, the cut vegetation would eventually disperse with the wind,” said Graça Gonçalves.

According to the PUBLIC found, the PJ inspectors who are investigating the cause of the fire, have already made the preliminary report of the incident and concluded that the fire did not start in any vehicle. The ignition has occurred in the vegetation surrounding the park and then spread to the cars. It is not clear what caused the fire, but everything points to a negligent behavior.

The most probable hypothesis is that it was caused by a badly extinguished cigarette. There is no trace to corroborate this thesis, which results from an analysis by excluding parts. no fire trace, there was no thunder, no problems with high voltage cables or found glasses exposed to sunlight was not detected could be the cause of fire, enumerates police source.

Also it found no evidence of fire station, which led police to exclude the possibility of an intentional ignition. This was possible through the analysis of traces left by the fire, which show a low velocity at the beginning of the fire.

These findings are bad news for many of the injured, since not having the ignition started in a car, there is less safe that responsibilities can be allocated. The only insurance that seems able to answer for the damage is a liability that the organization has Wanderings, but the organization itself recognizes that it will be insufficient to meet the considerable damage. “Only after cleared the causes is that our insurer will pronounce,” explains Catherine Serrazina, the executive committee of the Wanderings.

Although formally most of the destroyed vehicles (345) have already been delivered the owners or insurance companies, in fact the “carcasses” continue in Andanças the parking lot, waiting to be lifted, said Publico Lt. Col. Joseph Moses, public relations officer of the Territorial Command Portalegre GNR.

“Today [yesterday] was on site a licensed company in this kind of work and were removed about 100 vehicles,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Moses. Another similar operation should take place this week.