Alto da Memória, Sintra, Portugal
Posted by: 
Torgut
N 38° 46.674 W 009° 26.395
29S E 461787 N 4292222
Memorial to the 25 firefighters who perish on the spot on the 7th September 1966
Waymark Code: WMAB7W
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Date Posted: 12/18/2010
Views: 9
With extremely dry and hot Summers, Portugal had to deal, each year, with a plague of wildfires. The mountains of Sintra, not far from Lisbon, are a usual scenario for these fires.
On the 7th September of 1966 a platoon found itself in a awful tactic situation and was trapped by the surrounding flames. 4:30 in the afternoon was the time. In a few minutes 25 of these brave men had perished. Actually they were not real firemen, but soldiers acting as such, incorporated in the national firefighting network. They belonged to the 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment, based in Queluz.
The lack of proper equipment and formation seems to be the main reason for the catastrophe. The dramatic moment was witnessed by Luciano Policarpo Duarte, a men who volunteered to help the firemen brigades but who was advised by them to return home. It was in his way back that he saw an army truck surrounded by flames, heard the screams of dying man, begging for water, trying to repel the flames with simple sticks.
Memorial Website: [Web Link]
Physical address:
Sintra,
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