Authorities should also have better warned the public about the potential danger by issuing a red weather alert, the 267-page report published late Tuesday said. The wildfires were the largest ever recorded in Europe at that time of year, it said. Opposition parties criticized the government for failing to improve its firefighting capacity despite the death of 64 people in wildfires four months earlier. The report blamed arsonists and farmers burning fields and woodland for starting most of the October wildfires. Eucalyptus trees and maritime pine trees, which make up around half of Portugal's forests, accounted for almost 90 percent of the charred woodland, the report said.

Source: ABC News March 21, 2018 11:29 UTC