14 Suspects Arrested For Starting The Portugal Wildfires. Prime Minister: "These Arsons Were Committed In The Name Of Particular Interests."
Dozens of wildfires all started at the same time across Portugal on the morning of what was predicted to be the hottest and windiest day of the year. There have been over seven fatalities confirmed, 3 of which were firefighters cut off by the fires and then burned over in their emergency vehicle.
On yesterday’s podcast, I discussed that no official cause was announced at the time of recording but expressed that it all looked very suspicious. There was not any lighting when the fires started, and like other similar fires across the globe in recent years, the location and timing of the fires made it look coordinated.
Since then, the Prime Minister of Portugal, Luis Montenegro, announced that 14 suspects had been arrested in connection with starting dozens of fires across the country and was likely coordinated. In the official statement, he said “tough action” would be taken against the arsonists and that the arson-caused fires were "committed in the name of particular interests.”
A very interesting comment indeed.
The Prime Minister did not go further into detail and said the investigation was ongoing. Dozens of homes have been burned, there have been both civilian and firefighter casualties, and nearly 100,000 acres have already been destroyed.
If we look at other large-scale arson fires I’ve covered on the podcast in the last few years, we see that in February of this year, the fires in the Valparaíso region of Chile were started by two firefighters. One held an official position in the forestry department and provided incendiary devices to a second-year firefighter to start the fires. These fires killed 137 people and caused large-scale destruction of homes. After the fires had started, the forestry official took to social media, blaming the government for the fires.
This year, a sociology professor at the University of Athens was charged with starting up to five fires in Greece. In 2023, 79 people were arrested across Greece for starting fires in a coordinated fashion using motorcycles to spread fires across the landscape quickly. They were caught after law enforcement drones captured them in the act.
In May of this year, a Sociology and Cult behavior professor was charged in connection to multiple fires in California. The hearing revealed that he was starting fires behind firefighters who were already working on existing fires, likely trying to entrap them.
In March of this year, According to Telesur News, the president of Mexico “did not rule out that the current wave of fires could be deliberate and suggested that real estate companies could be responsible.” The president alluded that the companies set fire to clear the land for building.
The Park Fire in California this year was started by a known criminal, and the recent Line Fire was found to be deliberately started as well. Nearly HALF of all acres burned this year in California have been due to arson.
This list goes on… but I want to showcase that this is a massive problem. The reasons behind their crimes are varied. Mental health issues are a big one. But when Prime Ministers and Presidents say interested parties coordinate it… that gets very concerning.
I get pushback from special interest groups when I discuss how these fires are started and am told I should focus more on the conditions in which the fires are burning.
I believe those two topics have equal weight and should be discussed openly. Portugal conducted a study in 2017 showing that 36% of their fires that year were arson… not just human-caused, but arson. Those fires resulted in 37 deaths that year.
It seems to be a growing problem in Europe and California, and it should be discussed going forward. In just the last three days, CalFire has announced more arson arrests, a very interesting one being the Crozier Fire, which locals have been calling arson since it was first discovered.
It will be very interesting to see the final investigation findings regarding these recent deadly and destructive fires in Portugal.
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Can't wait to find out what "interests" are involved. Maybe if someone had funded the sociology prof to study arsonists, he wouldn't have become one...
Does anybody know if they have determined the cause of the Davis fire near Reno NV.