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Rural wildfires and your roof: protecting the house and what the law requires

How embers set roofs and gutters alight, the fuel management strip the law requires around houses, the 2026 deadlines and fines, what BROOF means, what to do before the summer and when a fire approaches.

Topic
Rules
Reading
7 min
Reviewed
04/11/2026
Rural wildfires and your roof: protecting the house and what the law requires

In a rural wildfire, many houses burn without the flames ever reaching them. One ember carried by the wind landing in a gutter full of pine needles is enough. This guide explains how fire gets in, what the law requires around houses, the 2026 deadlines and fines, and what to do before the summer and when a fire is approaching.

Updated on 4 November 2026. General information, not legal advice or a fire safety design.

The essentials

  • Embers are the hidden danger. According to the ANEPC, a house can burn without the fire reaching it.
  • Keep the roof and gutters clear of leaves, pine needles, twigs and moss. Fit the chimney with a fine spark-arrester mesh.
  • The law requires a 50 m strip around houses on forest land (10 m on farmland), to be managed by whoever holds the land.
  • 2026 is a transition year: the duties and fines of the 2006 law still apply. Ask the Câmara.
  • No measure guarantees the house comes through intact. The ANEPC’s document on building says the same.

How fire reaches the roof

The ANEPC guide «Aldeia Segura, Pessoas Seguras» (2018) explains that a building can catch fire without the fire reaching it, because of the embers the wind carries far. It names these weak points:

  • roofs, valley gutters (algerozes), parapets and corners with dry leaves, pine needles, twigs or moss;
  • chimneys without a fine mesh to stop sparks;
  • openings such as ventilation grilles, which it says to close when a fire approaches;
  • firewood, tarpaulins and garden furniture against the house or on porches.

The same guide prefers roofs of non-combustible material (it gives tiles, slate or cement as examples).

What the law requires around the house

Decreto-Lei n.º 82/2021 created the Integrated Rural Fire Management System (SGIFR). Article 49(7) requires whoever holds land (owner, tenant, usufructuary or other) less than 50 m from buildings used as homes or for economic activities to manage the fuel in a strip of 50 m, measured from the outer masonry, on forest land, or of 10 m on farmland.

It does not apply to annexes (paragraph 8). Around built-up areas next to forest, the standard strip is 100 m (paragraph 6). The sub-regional programme may change the widths by up to 50% (paragraph 2). If nobody complies, the Câmara does the work and charges the cost (article 58).

Since 1 January 2026, the technical rules are in the ICNF regulation approved by Despacho n.º 675/2026 (article 14):

Zone What the regulation requires
0 to 2 m from the walls no vegetation or leaf litter; where possible, a non-flammable strip. Also around annexes, porches and pergolas
2 to 10 m remove or thin trees and shrubs; more than 4 m between crowns
From 10 m to the edge of the strip trees pruned up (50% of their height up to 8 m; after that, at least 4 m above the ground); low, broken-up scrub
The whole strip crowns at least 5 m from the house and no branches over the roof; no firewood or forestry waste unless enclosed; avoid hedges

In areas of very low to medium hazard, the strip around houses may go down to 30 m, by decision of the sub-regional commission (article 8).

Deadlines and fines in 2026

Decreto-Lei n.º 86/2026 kept the municipal forest fire defence plans (PMDFCI) in force until 31 December 2026. While they apply, article 79(4) of Decreto-Lei n.º 82/2021 says the duties and fines of Decreto-Lei n.º 124/2006 apply:

  • a strip of at least 50 m with forest, scrub or natural pasture; 10 to 50 m, as set in the PMDFCI, for other land uses (article 15(2));
  • a fine of €140 to €5,000 for individuals and €1,500 to €60,000 for companies (article 38).

According to the Câmara of Palmela, Despacho n.º 3440/2026 set the end of the 2026 works for 31 May, and 30 June in municipalities under a state of calamity.

Outside this transitional regime, Decreto-Lei n.º 82/2021 treats a missing strip as a minor offence and, since Lei n.º 18/2026, refers the fine to the Framework Law on Environmental Offences. In the version we read, a minor offence by an individual costs €200 to €2,000 (negligence) and €400 to €4,000 (intent).

In practice: ask the Câmara, in writing, which rules it applies, which width applies to your land and what the 2027 deadline is.

BROOF and Euroclasses

  • Reaction to fire (EN 13501-1): classes A1 to F for construction products. See the sandwich panel guide.
  • External fire on roofs (EN 13501-5): measures how a roof stands up to a fire from outside. According to the ANEPC, there are four test methods (t1 to t4), with flame, wind and radiant heat in different combinations. There is no ranking between methods: BROOF(t1) and BROOF(t3) cannot be compared. The letter F means performance not determined.

Article 61 requires measures for the building’s resistance to the passage of fire in new building, extension and reconstruction work on rural land outside rural settlements, on forest land or less than 50 m from it. They are in ANEPC Despacho n.º 8591/2022 and go into the fire safety design. They depend on the distance to vegetation and on an exposure class. We did not read the tables of the despacho. If you are replacing the roof covering, ask for the declaration of performance with the external fire class and see the tile types.

Before the summer

  1. Clean the gutters and the roof (see gutter cleaning and roof cleaning). Do not go up without protection: it is work at height.
  2. Cut branches over the roof and keep crowns 5 m from the house.
  3. Clear 2 m around the walls, annexes and porches.
  4. Move firewood, tarpaulins and gas bottles away from the house.
  5. Check the chimney mesh and the grilles (see chimneys and flashings).
  6. Have broken tiles and gaps at the eaves checked.
  7. Confirm with the Câmara the width and the deadline.
  8. Review your insurance (see the insurance guide). For people building on rural land, article 62 points to fire insurance.

If the fire approaches

AGIF and the ANEPC advise, if you stay at home and it is safe:

  • warn the neighbours; in an emergency, call 112;
  • wet the walls, the roof and 10 m around the house (from the ground, without climbing onto the roof);
  • close doors, windows, shutters and ventilation grilles, and put wet towels in the gaps;
  • move furniture, tarpaulins and firewood away from the house and turn off the gas;
  • move curtains and sofas away from the windows and stay away from the walls;
  • once the fire has passed, look for hot spots around the house and on the roof.

If you leave, close doors and windows as you go and do not turn back. Follow the authorities. Afterwards, see the first 48 hours.

What we could not confirm

  • The Diário da República would not open on 4 November 2026. We read copies of the official text (municipalities, the Lisbon Regional Prosecutor’s Office, FAOLEX).
  • The 2027 deadline and whether the PMDFCI will be extended again.
  • How each Câmara combines, in 2026, the ICNF regulation and the 2006 law. Palmela published older criteria (4 m between crowns, 10 m for maritime pine and eucalyptus) and fines of up to €5,000 and €25,000, which do not match the texts we read.
  • Whether Lei n.º 18/2026 changed the amounts in the Framework Law (we read the 2019 version).
  • The BROOF class required by Despacho n.º 8591/2022.
  • The list in Decision 2000/553/EC (roof coverings accepted without testing): the table is an image and we did not read it.
  • Meshes for grilles and eaves, gaps under the tiles and solar panels: we found no official Portuguese guide.

Sources (read on 4 November 2026)

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