The man who on September 23rd last year started a forest fire near the Porto da Cruz expressway was sentenced this afternoon in the Funchal court (Building 2000) to four and a half years in prison, but with a suspended sentence on the condition that he undergo treatment for alcohol addiction.
When reading the ruling, Judge Carla Meneses emphasized that the opportunity afforded to the defendant “is a kind of jackpot,” because, given the crime that greatly alarms the public, the most likely outcome in these types of trials is an effective prison sentence. However, she took into account that the man fully confessed to the facts contained in the Public Prosecutor’s indictment, was convincing in his expressions of remorse, and has already taken steps toward treatment for alcoholism, a vice that has led him to commit other crimes in the past.
The indictment stated that, on the afternoon of September 23, 2024, the defendant, as part of a previously devised plan, left his home armed with papers and went to a nearby vacant lot next to the expressway. Once there, he set fire to papers in the brush, ensuring that the flames spread, and then abandoned the area. Due to moderate winds (35 kilometers per hour), the fire spread quickly, burning approximately 300 square meters of brush and partially damaging three trees. The flames remained approximately 10 meters from the defendant’s home, which belongs to third parties. There are other homes in the area.
The fire only escaped greater severity because the commander of the Santana Fire Department, Paulo Leme, was passing by at the time. He noticed the flames and promptly alerted the Machico Fire Department. Six members of the Machico Fire Department, supported by two fire engines, intervened and successfully extinguished the fire. It was thanks to this swift action that the flames prevented the spread to the expressway and surrounding areas.
When firefighters and PSP officers responded to the scene, the defendant approached them and was even named as a witness in the initial stages of the investigation. Apparently, he was betrayed by the footage from the expressway’s surveillance cameras, which captured his actions. Only almost four months after the fire, the man was arrested by the Judiciary Police. A search of his home revealed the clothes he wore on the day he started the fire.