# Rural Fires--Causes of Human Losses in the 2017 Fires in Portugal
## 6 Conclusions  
Rural fires are the source of many fatalities in Portugal and around the world. The analysis of the type of victims and their characteristics allowed us to identify the risk factors that led to human losses in Portugal during the rural fires in 2017. In the October event, more people died indoors than in the June event. In Pedrogao Grande, it was an occurrence with an intensity never seen before in Portugal, on a Saturday afternoon and in a very touristy area. In the October fires, several fires with great speed and intensity caught the inhabitants by surprise without them having a chance to escape. It is also important to understand the ages of the people who died at home in this occurrence: they were mostly elderly people with mobility difficulties who should have been evacuated in advance by the authorities. The analysis of fatalities resulting from the 2017 fires in Portugal shows that people still have a poor perception of fire risk, making wrong last-minute decisions that lead to death. A lack of awareness combined with a lack of credible information means that, in the face of a fire, people make decisions based on what they know from their experience of past events. With the analysis of the location and some characteristics of the victims, it is possible to identify the following risk factors that lead to the death of civilians due to rural fires. * Growing demand for nature-based tourism: The change in the dynamics of fires in Portugal has taken increasing proportions and dynamics that are difficult to identify in advance. The high demand for rural and forested areas for tourism and leisure, essentially by residents of urban areas, has significantly increased the number of people dispersed in these spaces. In addition, the visitors are mostly people who are poorly prepared and unaware of the risk of rural fire, thus increasing their vulnerability. * False feelings of inhabitants in rural areas: Inhabitants in rural areas have become used to living with fires. With the abandonment of rural areas, the forest tends to invade the villages, significantly increasing the urban-forest interface. The feeling of safety that the inhabitants had before is no longer real, and currently, the rural settlements are very vulnerable and increasingly exposed to fires, being a relevant risk for their inhabitants. * Demand for rurality and nature-based experiences: Although there has been an exodus of permanent inhabitants from the villages in the countryside in recent decades, there is now an increasing demand for accommodation and/or housing in rural areas, essentially by foreigners. There is also an increase in the return of retired people to their origins, in search of the tranquility of the countryside. This factor hasfurther contributed to the fact that, in addition to the forest entering urban alleys, new construction often \"enters\" the forest in search of a deeper contact with nature. * Strong exposure of vulnerable communities to risk: the villages have become increasingly aged. The sense of neighborhood has ceased to exist, and it is increasingly common for the elderly to be debilitated in their homes, cared for and often visited by employees of social solidarity institutions. In the face of a fire situation, and in addition to the difficulties associated with age and illness, indirect fire products such as smoke and gases substantially affect these people. * Understanding the escape process: The lack of preparation and awareness makes the population wait for the fire to arrive at the houses. In the face of very intense fire phenomena, combined with poor information and the lack of competent authorities on the ground to guide their exit process, last-minute self-evacuation will increase people's exposure to the fire from which they are fleeing. Since 2017, the Portuguese Civil Protection Authorities have begun to carry out preventive evacuations more frequently, often adjusted to the severity of the fire.