DECIR 2026 Lands in Alentejo Central With 393 Operacionais and 99 Vehicles for the July-September Delta Phase — Maria João Rosado Reads One Light Bomber Helicopter Into Évora From 15 May, Estremoz Public Presentation Tomorrow

The Dispositivo Especial de Combate a Incêndios Rurais (DECIR) for Alentejo Central in 2026 will reach 393 operacionais and 99 specialised vehicles in its Delta peak between 1 July and 30 September, plus one light bomber helicopter based in Évora from 15 May to 30 September, according to the deployment plan released last week by the Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection command. Commander Maria João Rosado will present the device publicly in Estremoz tomorrow, 12 May.

The Phase Ladder

The DECIR runs on a five-phase calendar that escalates resources as the fire window opens and tapers them as the autumn rains arrive. For Alentejo Central in 2026, the device reads:

Bravo (15-31 May): 358 operacionais and 88 vehicles
Charlie (1-30 June): 375 operacionais and 95 vehicles
Delta (1 July-30 September): 393 operacionais and 99 vehicles
Echo (1-15 October): 349 operacionais and 89 vehicles

The key tactical signal in the calendar — and the one Rosado underlined in the briefing — is that the device 'does not significantly grow between June and the peak season'. Charlie already sits within 5% of the Delta cap on personnel and within 4% on vehicles, which is unusual for the national DECIR profile. The justification is regional: the Alentejo Central fire history concentrates ignitions in late June around the cereal-harvest window, and the device is therefore front-loaded into Charlie rather than ramped late.

The High-Risk Map

The plan identifies five high-risk areas inside the sub-region: Serra D'Ossa, Serra de Valverde, Monfurado, Serra de Portel and the Mata Nacional de Cabeção. All five carry the cork-oak, holm-oak and pine-stand mosaic that defines the Alentejo Central fuel load, and all five sit inside a 60-kilometre radius of the Évora helicopter base, which is the operational reason the light bomber is positioned there. The other four sub-regions of the Alentejo carry their own DECIR plans — Baixo Alentejo will field 291 operacionais and 71 vehicles plus two light bomber helicopters and two medium bomber planes in Delta; Alto Alentejo (Portalegre) carries 206 operacionais, 46 brigades and 46 vehicles permanently inside the device.

The Estremoz Public Presentation

The 12 May presentation in Estremoz is the public-facing launch of the device for the residents of the 14 Alentejo Central municipalities. The presentation traditionally covers the helicopter base activation date, the inter-municipal mutual-aid protocols, the points at which the device shifts from preventive patrols to fire-attack postures, and the prevention rules residents are expected to know going into Bravo — the limpeza das matas deadlines, the queimadas ban window from 1 July, and the silvicultura machine-use restrictions during the highest-risk afternoon hours.

What This Means for Residents

For households in the high-risk areas, the operative deadlines from 15 May are the 50-metre vegetation-clearance perimeter around dwellings, the 100-metre perimeter in rural settlements, and the complete prohibition on outdoor burning from 1 July through 30 September unless a municipal permit has been issued. Civil Protection's emergency line is 112; the dedicated fire-information line is 117. Foreign residents in the Évora, Estremoz, Reguengos de Monsaraz and Mourão belts are inside the Delta perimeter and should consult their junta de freguesia if uncertain whether their property falls inside the 50-metre or 100-metre regime. On the rural-property and fuel-management side of the file, our 28 May read on the Ministério da Agricultura limpeza-de-terrenos deadline extension — José Manuel Fernandes pushing the 31 May cliff to 30 June 2026 nationwide on the back of spring rainfall and a 142% Fixando contractor-demand surge, with coimas at €150-€10,000 for singulares and up to €25,000 for pessoas coletivas under the SGIFR Decreto-Lei 82/2021 framework sets the latest reference. On the 1 July Período Crítico wildfire side of the file, our 31 May read on ANEPC staging the 1 July Período Crítico across continental Portugal — Decreto-Lei 124/2006 SNDFCI restrictions on queimadas, queimas, foguetes, outdoor smoking and spark-generating maquinaria agrícola activate through 30 September alongside the DECIF Fase Charlie peak deployment, the two UH-60 Black Hawks reinforcing the 76-asset aerial fleet, the AGIF strategic coordination layer and the GNR UEPS / SEPNA enforcement on the contraordenação framework sets the latest reference. On the Alentejo heritage, megalithic-archaeology and Évora rural land-use side of the file, our 6 June read on the destruction of two 5,000-year-old antas and a Roman vila at Herdade das Atafonas in Torre de Coelheiros, Évora for a NOGAM walnut plantation — Câmara Municipal de Évora opens an inquérito interno, DRCALEN tutela refers the case to the Ministério Público, with the 2020 Vale da Moura precedent at the same parish framing the recurrence pattern sets the latest reference.