Wildfire coverage for Bloomberg and The Guardian in Portugal, September 2024

Starting from the 16th of September, Portugal was faced with the most destructive wildfires since 2017, rekindling the memories of that tragic year that claimed the lives of 66 people.

During four days, the fires burned through more than 100 thousand hectares of land, destroying homes and businesses.

This is my coverage from the Aveiro region, during the peak of the crisis, for Bloomberg, and the aftermath for the Guardian.

Absolute chaos’: counting the cost of a deadly wildfire in northern Portugal - latest story for @guardian with journalist Sam Jones in Albergaria-a-Velha.

"The fires are out in Albergaria-a-Velha now, their embers washed away by the heavy rain. But their reek still carries on the damp air, rising from the sooty earth, the scorched tree trunks, the burnt-out cars and houses, and the puddles of black and acrid water.

If the numbers offer a glimpse of the toll that last week’s wildfires took on this northern Portuguese municipality – four people dead, at least seven injured, 25,269 hectares burned and 81 homes damaged – they cannot convey the sense of fear and loss that the 26-metre-high flames brought with them.

A little farther into town, close to a pair of burnt-out Minis and a Nissan whose bonnet and bumper have half-melted to reveal the skeletal engine beneath, Victor Manuel dos Santos was also counting the damage, and giving thanks for the smoke alarm he’d bought in Lidl.

The detector’s beeping woke him early on Monday morning and he opened his eyes to see flames at his windowsill."