The Municipal Firefighters of Vila Nova de Gaia. From the Fire Company to the Sappers Battalion (1839-2022)

Fernando de Sousa, Diogo Ferreira, Isilda Monteiro, Ricardo Rocha

This is the story of the Municipal Firefighters of Vila Nova de Gaia, a corporation created under the name Fire Company of Vila Nova de Gaia, in 1839, called Firefighters Company from 1857 and Public Salvation Corps at the end of the 19th century and early decades of the 20th century, promoted to Sappers Company in 1982, and that in 2022 achieved the status of Battalion. An institution that, from its foundation, despite the vicissitudes, difficulties and misunderstandings it went through, constituted and continues to be the main instrument to fight fires and other accidents in the territory of the Municipality of Gaia. A story of selflessness and sacrifice, of dedication, courage and heroism, at the service of the inhabitants of Vila Nova de Gaia, made by altruistic individuals who gave themselves to the community. This is the first work on the History of the Firefighters of Vila Nova de Gaia to be carried out in a scientific and contextualized way, using a critical and rigorous methodology, based on numerous handwritten and printed sources, and in the scarce available bibliography.

Nota: Due to publishing rights, only the first pages of the work are available. The book is available at CEPESE's Library.

Authors: Diogo Ferreira, Fernando de Sousa, Isilda Monteiro, Noémia Salgado Cunha, Nuno Filipe de Sousa, Ricardo Rocha