The numbers show that arson is the leading cause of rural land area burned in Portugal. A reality that Portuguese policymakers in charge of fire reduction seem to shy away from.

In Caldeirão and Monchique, we heard the stories of people found guilty of arson. Lives marked by tragedy and desperation in which fire often emerges as a last resort, a cry to say “I’m still here”.

Herders accused of arson and people who study fire help us to understand the abandonment of the Portuguese countryside and the uncontrolled growth of vegetation in the Central Region. A forensic psychologist, who has decades of experience investigating the matter, paints a picture of Portuguese arson.

Many of those found guilty of arson have mental health problems. We reveal the dark side of imprisoning these people, the procedural errors, the bureaucratic abuses. And how a lack of responses from the State can mean the end of someone’s life.

Dália’s case rises from among the chaos and speculation about the origin of the Pedrógão Grande fire. A woman with schizophrenia who, having set a fire near her house, was detained and found guilty. And caught up by an amendment to the law that changed the rules on custodial sentences for arsonists deemed unfit to stand trial.

The cause of the large fire in the Serra de Monchique, in 2018, is still unknown. A long investigation by the Portuguese Judicial Police concluded that the fire broke out after an electrical cable caught a tree. They charged  EDP (the company that, at the time, was responsible for energy provision throughout Portugal), but the judge responsible decided to close the case.