With Brasília covered in smoke, President Lula calls an emergency meeting; minister says there is an “unusual situation”

26/08/2024

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Smoke from fires in the Amazon covered Brasília on Sunday — Foto: Eraldo Peres/AP

On Sunday, Environment Minister Marina Silva compared the fires in São Paulo to the “Day of Fire” in 2019. In light of suspicions that they may be the result of criminal actions, she has called in the Federal Police to investigate the origins of the fires that led 46 municipalities in the countryside of São Paulo to declare a maximum alert and close two airports in the state after covering the federal capital in smoke.

“There is an unusual situation [with the fires in São Paulo]. You start to see several municipalities burning at the same time, practically within a week, in just two days. This is not part of our experience,” said Ms. Silva. “Just as we had the ‘Day of Fire,’ there is a strong suspicion that it is happening again.” The so-called “Day of Fire” occurred in August 2019 when land-grabbers and rural producers coordinated efforts to set fire to areas of the Amazon rainforest.

“In São Paulo, it is not natural, under any circumstances, that in just a few days there would be so many fronts of fire and that so many fronts of fire would involve multiple municipalities at the same time,” Ms. Silva said at a press conference after a meeting with President Lula to assess the situation at the headquarters of Brazil’s environmental protection agency IBAMA in Brasília, which woke up covered in smoke from nearby fires and dry weather.

The Federal Police has opened two investigations to investigate possible criminal acts related to the fires. With these, the institution has 31 ongoing investigations regarding forest fires, with the previous ones relating to the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal wetlands.

The head of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, said he has mobilized 15 police stations in São Paulo “so that we can identify the issues involving the fires.”

“It’s an unusual movement, but conclusions will only come with the completion of the police investigations,” he said. “There are two investigations in São Paulo looking into possible criminal fires, one has already been initiated,” he added, clarifying that both investigations concern the hypothesis of criminal fires and are separate “due to jurisdictional issues.”

The São Paulo government informed that two people were arrested over the weekend in the cities of São José do Rio Preto and Batatais on suspicion of involvement in criminal fires.

Ms. Silva said she spoke with Governor Tarcísio de Freitas of São Paulo about the fires. She also informed that the federal government has made a KC-390 cargo plane available to assist in fighting the fire, but the aircraft was unable to take off due to the smoke covering the Ribeirão Preto region in the countryside of the state.

Also present at the meeting with Mr. Lula, the minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, reinforced the government’s suspicions that there was a criminal action. “My grandmother used to say, ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’ If she were alive, she would say, ‘if there’s coordinated fire at the same time, in an unusual manner, there must be a crime,’” he said.

When asked about the federal government’s responsibility regarding the fires, Ms. Silva said that the situation would be much worse if the current administration had not been acting preventively since the government transition at the end of 2022. She also denied that there had been any failures.

“The federal government is responsible for federal areas and conservation units, but we are acting in all areas, including private properties. Unlike deforestation, you don’t have an agent inside your farm or house checking if a fire will be set. Therefore, it cannot be said that it is a failure, because awareness campaigns and all processes have been carried out,” she said. “The investigations are to determine if there is intentional action in the case of São Paulo. In other cases, there are strong suspicions of intentional action. [The situation in] São Paulo is also under investigation for that reason.”

The emergency meeting took place at the headquarters of Prevfogo (National Center for Prevention and Combat of Forest Fires), part of IBAMA. Besides Mr. Lula, Ms. Silva, the president of IBAMA, Rodrigo Agostinho, Mr. Padilha and Mr. Rodrigues were also present.

At Prevfogo, Mr. Lula and the ministers visited a situation room where IBAMA experts monitor the fires. The president, who had spent the night in São Paulo, landed early in the afternoon at the Brasília Air Base and went directly to the meeting accompanied by First Lady Rosângela da Silva.

According to Ms. Silva, Mr. Lula said he would participate in a routine meeting to monitor the fires, which takes place weekly at the Planalto Palace. He said he would call in governors of states affected by the fires. “[The president] expressed his decision to participate in the ordinary meeting, which is held every week in the Chief of Staff Office and involves more than 20 ministries. In this meeting, we will summon the governors of the states affected by the fires.”

In the countryside of São Paulo, the scene is one of chaos. With more than 2,300 fire incidents reported in two days, the state is at the top of fire occurrences in the country. The flames continue to advance in areas of vegetation and crops, especially in the Ribeirão Preto region.

The state government announced an increase in the operation to combat the fire in the countryside with the establishment of an advanced post in Ribeirão Preto. According to monitoring by the Emergency Management Center (CGE) of the Civil Defense, 21 cities are facing active fire fronts.

According to Governor Freitas, the unit will operate in an integrated manner with the crisis cabinet set up at the CGE for monitoring and controlling the situation. “Our task force consists of more than 7,000 professionals and volunteers, in addition to helicopters, drones, and vehicles to act in combating the fire and guiding the population,” he said on social media.

In a statement, the São Paulo government reported that two employees of a plant in Urupês died on Friday while trying to combat a fire. “Forest fires can reach large areas of natural vegetation. With gusts of wind, the fire can spread rapidly. The fires emit dense and toxic smoke that harms the environment and human health, causing respiratory problems and cardiovascular disorders,” the text said.

According to government alerts, the highways are experiencing closures, ranging from total to partial, impacting traffic in several regions. The guidance is “for drivers to avoid these routes until normalization and to seek safe alternatives for their journeys. Furthermore, everyone must remain attentive to constant updates on traffic conditions monitored in real-time by emergency teams and responsible concessionaires.”

(With Agência Brasil)

*Por Fabio Murakawa — Brasília

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/