Zoom-In on Black Smoke: How Wildfires Are Reported on Portuguese TV Channels

For many people in the world, the nightmare is recurrent: massive wildfires every year, damaging landscapes and endangering biodiversity, but most of all, destroying houses and livelihoods. Journalists, news channels and broadcasting stations are vital in the prevention, awareness and aftermath analysis of extreme dangers and disasters.

Five years ago, Portugal went through the deadliest wildfire season in its history. Two massive wildfires, one in June and another in October, caused 109 deaths in a country of 10.3 million people. 

The shock of both events and the technological improvements since then have been responsible for some changes in the way Portuguese journalists work around wildfire situations.

On October 15, 2017, the Iberian wildfires claimed the lives of 45 people in Portugal. At the time, the country had not yet recovered from the immense tragedy of wildfires in the municipality of Pedrogao Grande, just four months before, when 64 other people were killed by unstoppable flames.

On June 17, 2017, flames erupted in the central region of Leiria and encircled neighboring territories. The municipality of Pedrogao Grande was the epicenter of the firestorms and its name became undeniably associated with the devastating fire and the tragedy left in its wake.

Although dangerous zones were delimited by the authorities, fire and smoke surrounded all the roads and exits while evacuees drove away in cars or tried to flee the scene by foot. Escape became impossible for many and around half of the 64 fatal victims were asphyxiated or burnt to death in their cars.

Only after the flames subsided and the carbonized bodies of the victims were retrieved did professional photojournalists capture pictures showing rows of burnt vehicles on the road. All the plastic material, silicone and rubber from car tires melted on the roads during the massive wildfires. 

The pictures from Pedrogao Grande remain unforgettable in the country’s collective memory.

Even though the news was terrifying and hard to believe, journalistic work proved to be vital for exposing and exhibiting the burning black truth.

Journalists assumed an important role, while doing the tireless work of investigating and reporting on the aftermath.

The tragic events five years ago prompted irrevocable changes in the way fires were reported and portrayed in the news in Portugal. The coverage became much more visual, graphic and sensorial than it ever was before. Typical and iconic images people can see on TV consist of huge flames in forest terrains or long zoom-ins on the dense black smoke over populated areas.

The points of view of these blazing natural disasters have multiplied and news media companies always try to get the most shocking pictures and stories.

Presently, whenever there are wildfires, technological advancements allow television channels to film and broadcast live from different angles. With the help of drones or helicopters, the images stay for long periods of time on the screen.

Since the devastation of 2017, many more journalists have been “thrown to the flames” almost literally so that the newsrooms can have the most information if a situation like that ever happens again. Equipped with their cameras, micros, phones and laptops, journalists are taken and dropped in risky areas, facing the danger, to see and show how civilian victims survive fire in the first place..

In the last five summers, the number of reporting teams deployed by media channels and newspapers seems to have grown bigger than before, with more staff dissecting every new development related to the fires.

Breathing the same intoxicating air and suffering the same insupportable heat, reporters on the ground are kept talking for tens of minutes, repeating and describing the live despair, without a break to breathe or drink water.

With the work of journalists, the population can stay informed and prepared to take protective actions and keep away from danger.

Every summer, Portuguese news channels have non-stop fire coverage, especially when there are several parts of the country affected by wildfires. Daily briefings by fire-combating authorities go live on TV. 

The coverage also provides some prevention for the people residing near the affected areas. If they don’t hear the sirens calling for firefighters or don’t feel the smoke yet, they can see it on TV, staying informed about the possible need for emergency evacuations. 

Serious droughts, extreme heatwaves and strong winds have made Portugal, among other countries, an extremely fragile territory from May to October.

Since the scale of the tragedy caught everybody by surprise in 2017, including authorities, government officials and local officials responsible for civilian protection, preventive information about risk of forest fires began circulating earlier in the following summers, with the help of TV stations and media companies. The information often appears in print materials, audio reports, social media posts, or in the form of audiovisual ads during commercial breaks on television.

“In case of lockdown at home, do not panic. Close all the doors and windows and place wet towels under them,” is just some of the advice given by firefighters on television in 30-second informational segments.

Fires in the summer are assumed to be a certainty. The big problem is knowing where the flames are going to erupt. The work of journalists, although many times focusing on the most tragic predictions, need to be respected as essential sources of information in risky times.