As the country counts the cost of two terrible weeks of fires – many started on purpose – we hear that the “latest arsonist” caught out by authorities is just 11-years-old. The boy has been identified by Guarda’s PJ police as being responsible for a forest fire that threatened the residential area of Silvares, in the borough of Fundão. According to reports, the boy initially tried blaming a neighbour but then came clean, saying he had wanted to try out a lighter he had on him.
The issue now is what to do with the child, apparently on holiday for the moment with his grandparents.
It could be that he is sent for “a period of internment in a youth correction centre”, explains national tabloid Correio da Manhã.
This is the second case of a blaze caused by a minor.
Last week, the 13-year-old son of a fireman in Oliveira das Frades (Viseu) was found to have started a fire because he “liked” seeing his father at work.
The child actually told investigators that when he grows up, he would like to be a fireman.
