Pedrógão Grande, a Portuguese municipality located about 55 kilometers from Coimbra, inaugurated last week the Memorial in Homage to the Victims of the 2017 Forest Fires, a tragedy that claimed the lives of 66 people and left 253 others injured. The monument was designed by architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2011.
The work cost about 1.8 million Euros and was initiated two years ago by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP). The monument features "a framing lake, with about 2,500 square meters of area, fed by a 60-meter long gargoyle, bordered by a strip of plants consisting of white water lilies, lilies, and ranunculus," according to IP. In addition, the project includes a wall with the name of each victim inscribed on it.
Eduardo Souto Moura experienced the tragedy firsthand: one of the employees of his office died on that road, while returning from Praia das Rocas with her family. This prompted him to develop the project.
The fire in Pedrógão Grande caused 66 deaths and 253 injuries, destroyed about five hundred houses, 261 of which were permanent dwellings, and 50 companies. Over two-thirds of the fatalities, 47 people, were driving and were surrounded by flames on the EN (national road) 236-1, between Castanheira de Pera and Figueiró dos Vinhos.
About 53,000 hectares of territory, 20,000 of which are forest, mainly in the municipalities of Pedrógão Grande, Castanheira de Pera and Figueiró dos Vinhos, in the district of Leiria, Góis, Penela and Pampilhosa da Serra (Coimbra) and Sertã (Castelo Branco), but also in Alvaiázere and Ansião (Leiria), Arganil (Coimbra) and Oleiros (Castelo Branco), were affected by the fires.
Four months after the June fire, on October 17, 2017, another forest fire in the same region claimed the lives of 49 other people, totaling 115 fatalities. The monument was opened to the public without an official ceremony on June 16, after Infraestruturas de Portugal connected with the Association of Victims of the Pedrógão Grande Fire (AVIPG).
Source: Observador, TSF, and DN.
