MONCHIQUE

On August 3, 2018 began what has been dubbed as the “Monchique fire”. There were more than 27 thousand hectares of burnt area but also the genesis of the union between volunteers that originates VOST Portugal.

This generation will be marked by the fires of 2017. Especially those who live in the central area of the country, the main affected by the two great fires, that of “Pedrogão” and the black day of 15 October. But in 2018, Monchique, for its size and impact and probably the memory of the previous year, deeply marked some people.

We could say that it all started with a hashtag. #Monchique . The awareness that everything was to be done in this domain begins with the fires of 15-October. But the following year, 2018, some people, who didn't even follow each other on Twitter, were following the fires. #Monchique, and disseminating the information they were collecting both on social networks, media (OCS), and on the ground through the contacts they had. Soon they realized that people to compile, validate, and transmit information had more capacity than each one individually, and in an organic way was born the basis of what is today VOST Portugal.

At that time, with the Algarve full of people, there were many messages from people who wanted to know if the fire had reached location X, if it was going to reach location Y, if it was possible to know which roads were cut, if help was needed, if it was safe to go from point A to point B. This group of people all tried to respond, looking for the information, using their personal contacts with the authorities on the ground, Facebook groups, specific forums on the Internet, using after all the network of goodwill that exists whenever there are major disasters.

Thus emerges the seed of VOST Portugal.