Fires in Brasil: November 2006

The Brasilian Lawnmower

Introducing the Brasilian Lawnmower

I became aware of the Brasilian Lawnmower in April of 2006.

It seems that manual, gas or electric lawnmowers are either impractical or too expensive. Either that or Brasilians just don't want to take the time to cut the grass!

So they invented the Brasilian Lawnmower.

I saw it in action for the first time on April 21, 2006. I saw this smoke across town so I walked over to investigate and was startled to see this sight in the middle of the town. A fellow was clearing the grass from a city lot.

As I watched the fire spread rapidly. But no one seemed to care! No firemen were called. No one came. The fires just spread to the walls around the lot and stopped. What was I all excited about?

But that was not all we were to experience. In May we had a big surpise. See the Post "The Fires get Closer to Home " for more photos and descriptions of another fogo. Look at the smoke on the street near our home!

The next BIG event began on July 23, 2006. We were coming home from São Joao da Boa Vista when we saw the beginnings of the BIG FIRE of 2006. See the Post "The BIG FIRE Starts". This fire burned for three days.

On Day 2 it was burning vigourously on the other side of the mountain. A second fire had been criminaly set in Fonte Platina (an area of Águas da Prata) and joined the first fire then spread into farms including an Ostrich farm. See the Post "Day Two of the Fire". It burned for one more day.

Then on August 4, 2006 I went up the mountain to inspect the damage. It was awful. See the Post "After the Fire - Devastation Part 1" then the next Post "After the Fire - Devastation Part 2" for more photos.

After the fire was burned out and before I went up the mountain to inspect the damage there was another fire set in town. Once again our street filled with smoke.

This is unbelievable. These two pics were taken at noon. Some fool was clearing the grass again.

You would think that that was the end of the story. But alas no! More FOGOS continued in late August through September.

These are special fires, set on purpose by the farmers who are harvesting cane to make alcool. See the Post "Fogo! Cane Fires". We woke up to the smell of smoke in the house again and then saw this coming over the mountain, on the west side of the valley this time.

These cane fires continued through September everywhere they were harvesting the cane.

Three Months later, on October 28, 2006 I went for a hike up the mountain to the north of town and took this photo showing how the east mountain is coming back. It is now a lush green again. See the Post "Fogo! Rejuvenation Three Months Later".

Finally the last Post "What the Press Wrote" talks of the fire, its effects and what the Police are doing about it.

Photos by Urso Branco

The Fires Get Closer to Home

On May 31, 2006 we smelled smoke in our house.

There was smoke rising over the houses across the street. There was a fire in the empty lot on the next block in front of us. The Brasilian Lawnmower was at work again.

Here was the start of it all.

It was a grass fire with a great deal of smoke. It blanketed the entire neighbourhood!

The fire had been set on purpose to clear the grasses on the lot. The empty lot is large, walled, and occupies enough space for four or five homes.

It seems odd to me that people put up with this in town. It actually is illegal.

Imagine coming home from work at day's end and finding your house full of smoke. This was the intersection of streets just around the corner from our place.

The smoke was really thick up and down the street.

When the smoke died down this is what the lot looked like.

Incredible as it may seem, the next morning they did it again. This time they were burning scrap lumber from a construction site in the same lot. In our own home we could hardly breathe. So we complained and they stopped burning.

So that was the end of fires . . . . . or so we thought!

Photos by Urso Branco

The BIG FIRE Starts!

On Jul 23, 2006 we had gone to São Joao de Boa Vista early in the afternoon. As we drove back into town at 4:30 we saw smoke rising high into the air over Águas da Prata. We joked that someone must be having a really big BBQ.

Here is what we saw as we entered town.

We drove closer and realized it was a fire in the forest on the mountainside on the east side of town.

It wasn't very big at this time and probably could have been put out easily if anybody wanted to bother.

Finally someone started to take it seriously as it approached close to this Pousada (Hotel). Someone called the Bombeiros (Fire Department) but they are in São Joa da Boa Vista several km away and didn't respond to fight the fire.

The fire got worse as it started to climb the mountain.

Then it started to spread rapidly across the mountain top. Still no help came.

The smoke and flames spread some more.

The fire started right beside this house. Police believe it was started deliberately.

We watched from the main highway through town. Cars and trucks drove by and drivers were likely unaware of the fire just over their heads. If you didn't look up you

This is another burn, right at the road side. But I found out later it was from three days earlier in the exact place where this day's fire started.

We went home as it got darker and the fire seemed to be burning itself out.

At around 8 p.m. I went into our bedroom and I could hear a crackling noise. I looked out the window. There, across the river, on the east side of the valley, the mountain was totally engulfed in flames. These night shots don't give even a hint at how awesome the fire had become.

In the total darkness the flames were all you could see because of the smoke. The crackling noise of the fire was very loud.

I took my camera and went down to the river to get a better look at what was happening.

By this time the fire was coming back down the mountain and came within 100 meters of the Shell Station. By 7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. Bombeiros (Firemen) had shown up from as far away as Campinas. Even the Federal Police Firemen were there. But you couldn't see them in the darkness.

The fire was spreading rapidly around the mountain to the other side and over the top as well.

It was now burning close to houses and commercial buildings.

Brasileiros took all this in stride. I saw a group of them in a tavern drinking calmly. Their rationale was "Fire burns up Hill." or "It happens every year. So why worry about it?" The fire was only 50 meters from that tavern and they never budged.

When the fire rounded the corner it came right up to the walls of houses.

There were hot spots everywhere!

I expected to see total devastation by daylight as it kept burning through the night.

Photos by Urso Branco

Day Two of the Fire

Day two of the fire could be called Death on the Mountain!

On July 24, 2006 I walked around the corner from our house expecting to see the fire was out. However it had gone around the mountain to the other side as well as over the top and was still burning furiously.

Also, a second fire was set criminaly in Fonte Platina, an area on the south edge of town. This second fire joined up with the first on the mountain top.

Columns of smoke were visible all day!

Smoke billowed up over the mountain looking worse the closer I got.

I could see the scorched earth up the mountain behind the houses where I had watched the fire last night. You can see more smoke as the fire burns around the mountain.

The fire was also still burning to the south very vigorously. I could hear gunfire as the farmers were shooting severely injured livestock and wildlife early in the morning.

I went around to the backside of the mountain to see how badly the fire had burned the brush.

Later we drove along the highway and here you can see Urubus floating over the burn looking for dead and dying wildlife up on top of the mountain.

I could see the fire burning furiously around the Ostrich Farm on top of the mountain. It seemed nobody was fighting the fire. At least I couldn't see anyone up there from the highway. But the farmers and their neighbours were fighting valiantly to save their livestock and farms.

The fire burned for another day. We learned two Ostriches had died. pigs, cattle and numerous wildlife too. The fire had travelled several kms before it finally died out. It burned 30 alqueires or 360.6 acres

A couple days later the newspapers reported there would be an investigation because this fires had been set deliberately. As of Nov 15 we have heard no further news about the investigation. See the news report at the end of the BLOG. "What the Press Wrote".

Photos by Urso Branco