In the midst of flames and fumes: agreements and disagreements between social practices and operative rationalities of the actors involved in the context of forest fire

Abstract

In Portugal, disasters of great repercussion in press are associated with forest fires and affect in special the elderly living in small villages in the countryside. Following from this context, it is analysed the practices and rationality adopted by the operational body in emergencies when dealing with such crisis, and also the description of the historic of forest fire events in the county of Coimbra in the last decades. Then, from the perspective of the social memory of the elderly living in eight different villages in this county, it is analysed their agreements and disagreements with the operational body in the circumstances of a forest fire. It finished presenting how complex are the social suffering of the elderly in these circumstance and the framework of practices the group has taken to their self-protection, and also how these practices are in general distant from the technical perspective and action employed by the emergency bodies.