Over the years, the active movement of the population in Portugal has contributed to increased pressure on urban--rural interface areas. The frequent abandonment of rural areas and increase in the aging rate, boosted by the rural exodus of younger age groups, have contribute to the lack of planning, the abandonment of agro-pastoral activities, an increase in the fuel load, and the growth of fuel use near population centres. The combination of these factors contributes to increasing the fire risk susceptibility in urban--rural interface areas.

This paper presents a case study that took place in the municipality of Vila Real, Portugal in 2022, the Samardã Wildfire fire. It was based on the use of geographic information system tools, statistical procedures, and historical fire analysis.

It was possible to verify that the area affected by the 2022 fire has a high recurrence rate, evidenced by the fires that occurred in 2005 and 2017, which consumed a large percentage of the same area as the 2022 fire.

Analysing the data providing by the map of the use of soil in 2021 (COS 2021), it was found that 85.5% of the burnt area was occupied by scrubland, sparse herbaceous vegetation, and areas without vegetation; 12.4% was occupied by various settlements; and only 1.6% was occupied by agricultural areas. The rest was occupied by artificialized areas and water. In 1990, this area was 80% occupied by scrubland and rocky areas, 14.9% by diverse settlements, 5% by agricultural areas, and only 0.1% by artificialized areas.

The results show that when rural fires hit areas at the urban--rural interface, the means of protection and rescue are primarily allocated to protecting people and property, to the detriment of extinguishing the fire front. This prioritization of actions has contributed to an increase in the area burned, since the fire front burns more freely.