The residents of Vale do Lobo in the Portuguese Algarve knew it was time to worry when clouds of ash started falling from the sky into the swimming pools of their multi-million euro villas.
The region is a second home to several celebrities, including Cliff Richard, but emergency services are so overstretched that the majority of firefighters working to protect these luxury homes are unpaid reserves.
Fire season lasts a few months. So of course the majority of firefighters are volunteers.
Fools.
And here’s something useful – why worse fires?
“Each summer it gets more difficult, partly because not so many people live in rural areas and the land is not cleared of shrubs and bramble as they should be before each season.
Not climate change then, eh?
BTW, this group do sterling work.
From May to October, the Associação Alerta de Incendio Florestal….
Well if the celebs want to have professionals protecting their homes, they can of course hire them.
Though I’d agree with you Tim. I’m sure the volunteers do sterling work.
We once timed the lcal Austrian village volunteer fire brigade. It took six minutes from siren to fire engine out the door. That was pretty impressive, as was the Sweeney style driving of the lads on their way to the station from their jobs and homes.
The fire brigade is often the main social hub of a village’s menfolk.
I don’t think it’s just the short fire season that makes the fire service voluntary. Out here in Southern France (rural edition) outside of large towns all the first responders are unpaid. The ‘Pompiers’ combine the ambulance service and fire service (my wife is one) and as Ottokring says, it’s the social hub of the village. Yep, still mostly menfolk but that’s changing rapidly.
Although it’s supposedly unpaid, they get 8 Euros an hour for everything they do, including training. Plus extra for being on call, and a 500 euro Christmas bonus. Obviously it’s not much but my wife’s day job is minimum wage 10 euro an hour, so although she does the Pompier stuff for fun, it also lets us run a second car etc.
“The region is a second home to several celebrities, including Cliff Richard”
He’s still goin’ onna
Summer holiday
Volunteer firefighters are a staple of most US small towns too, aren’t they?
Our Ambulance service is mostly volunteer. As time goes by, the volunteer receives more advanced training, until the team on call is led by experts.
They have all the kit, provided by fundraising drives, and the boundaries of the parish services overlap to provide good coverage.
Our little comune, with only about 2,000 people, does everything from patient transport to road and farm accidents, and for the latter especially, can summon an air ambulance from the next city.
The small rural English market town where I grew up had a volunteer fire service too, and an old air-raid siren to signal the crews.
No idea what the setup is now, though I doubt the service is any better.
The ambulance services in Austria ( and I think in Germany ) are charities, our local one was run by the Red Cross. The staff are often students or those skipping military service. It is possible to hire them for ferrying.
They tend to be based in the district capital (bezirkshaupstadt) near the local hospital. Austrian infrastructure is pretty good, so it is not like the UK where waiting 4 hours is the norm. Air ambulances are provided by the equivalent of the AA.
“Not climate change then, eh? “.
Two blokes on the Toady programme this morning, one from up north, one from Norfolk.
Up North, 4 major fires in his area, 3 caused by disposable BBQ’s, discarded fags or other human actions. No mention of climate change.
Bloke from Wild Ken Hill, Norfolk (just co-incidentally, somewhere the BBC broadcasts nature programmes from…..), causes are the same – “I’d like to see disposable BBQ’s banned”, but then goes on to mention “climate change”.
These fires may definitely have been man made but not in the way they tell us…..
I think the point about ever increasing fuel loads (ie unburnt trees and shrubs) is the key one for all the world’s wildfire seasons. Mother Nature will have her way. Some species even require the fires to germinate. The ecoloons trying to stop all fires are in a King Canute position. We can’t prevent fires but we can manage them. And that means controlled burning.
BiW:
“No idea what the setup is now, though I doubt the service is any better.”
I bet their use of pronouns has improved, if nothing else.
I grew up with the local fire brigade being volunteers. The siren would sound and they’d all cycle to the fire station.
Last time I noticed, our local fire station had changed its sign to say Community Fire Station. I presume the purpose was to ensure that we wouldn’t know whether it was owned by the city or the county.
Completely off topic but I believe there are fans of Sir Pterry on here so perhaps they could help with this request from the David Thompson Typepad?
Can anybody decipher the calls of the newspaper sellers in Terry Pratchett’s novel The Truth?
It is clear that “Squidaped-oyt!” is “Read about it!” and “Mrpikeerah-Tis!” is “Morpork Times”.
But I can’t find meanings in the others: “Hoinarylup!”, “Sheearna-plp!”, “Eyinnngg…GUT!”, “Harglegarlyurp?”, and “LayarrrBnip!”.
Maybe they are gibberish from the deranged canting crew, or maybe I am insufficiently perceptive.
@Anteros
Obviously it’s not much but my wife’s day job is minimum wage 10 euro an hour, so although she does the Pompier stuff for fun, it also lets us run a second car etc.
They’ll soon put a stop to that.
@John
Can anybody decipher the calls of the newspaper sellers in Terry Pratchett’s novel The Truth?
It is clear that “Squidaped-oyt!” is “Read about it!” and “Mrpikeerah-Tis!” is “Morpork Times”.
But I can’t find meanings in the others: “Hoinarylup!”, “Sheearna-plp!”, “Eyinnngg…GUT!”, “Harglegarlyurp?”, and “LayarrrBnip!”.
Maybe they are gibberish from the deranged canting crew, or maybe I am insufficiently perceptive.
I can’t help you John but this did amuse me. I used to work near a pitch for the Evening Standard where the guy would shout ‘Eeeeeeeeen Stet’ and variations thereupon. He once announced the wrong edition and started punching himself in the face shouting, ‘No you wanker!’
John
That sounds like the Morecambe and Wise sketch “Morny Stannit !” Alas all YT videos in the UK are blocked by the BBC, but there a few there.
Morecambe and Wise did a sketch where a newspaper seller was pronouncing “Morning Standard” as “Morny Stannet”. Many years ago the guy who sold the Hull Daily Mail used to shout Droylaaaah.
It reminds me of leaving early 1960s football matches at around 4.45 and being greeted by newspaper vendors shouting “Arftymescos”.
With hindsight that was one hell of an achievement getting the local rag late edition printed and out with the sellers in around 3/4 of an hour.
Here you go! The Morny Stannit sketch…
https://youtu.be/s0JK1aAnlhE
@BiC
Tx, but I still need a VPN to watch in the UK.
The wildfires, Sir Cliff can probably put up with, but at least he’s free from BBC News helicopters buzzing about which was the problem with his old mansion in the UK.
The problem is that controlled burning needs to be done when it’s nice and dry, which is inevitably when the non-locals are inhabiting their summer homes and pissing-and-moaning that the views are being destroyed by ever present clouds of smoke.
Can’t win with these phuquers.
“Air ambulances are provided by the equivalent of the AA”
Piss heads flying helicopters – probably a better arrangement than getting the royals to do it.