A good choice by Correios de Portugal; in 2024 they are dedicating a series of ‘etiquetas’ to fire brigades, an essential public service for citizens. Firefighters play a crucial role in emergency response, civil protection and disaster management. In fact, this is the second series of variable value stamps to pay tribute to all the men and women who are always on the front line in any emergency.
The first series was released in May 2008 and was dedicated to the Ano Nacional do Voluntariado nos Bombeiros, the National Year of Volunteering for the Fire Service (see article, published in VARIABLE 9). The issue consisted of two designs with photographs of 2 distinct types of firefighters’ helmets, labels to be used in the four types of postal kiosks in service in that years; Crouzet (left), Amiel (right), SMD and NewVision.
The history of firefighting in Portugal dates back to the end of the 14th century, when the first Serviço de Incêndios de Lisboa was organised. In 1868, the Companhia de Voluntários Bombeiros de Lisboa was created, which in 1880 became the Associação de Bombeiros Voluntários. The Liga dos Bombeiros Portugueses was founded in 1930, an association bringing together the various fire brigades.
Today, Portugal has 22 professional fire brigades, financed by the municipality, and 412 volunteer fire brigades.
The new series is made up of three designs by Luís Taklim, with illustrations that show three aspects of firefighters in action: extinguishing forest and urban fires, and immediate attendance at accidents.
The rolls of self-adhesive labels printed in offset were manufactured by the Portuguese company Copidata, S.A. The size of the label is 55 x 30 mm and all labels have a preprinted control number on the back of the silicone coated backing paper showing the number of stamps issued from that roll.
The ‘Bombeiros de Portugal‘ series was progressively available from November 8th 2024, from the approximately 40 Newvision postal kiosks installed at Correios de Portugal – ctt post offices throughout the country.
The basic sets, also sold by the philatelic service, are made up of the main postal rates programmed at the kiosks on the date of issue. The four values are for non-priority mail or Correio Normal (0.65 – 1.03 – 1.20 – 1.30 €) and a further two for priority mail or CORREIO AZUL (0.90 – 4.55 €), as per the table below.
Stamps with other postal tariffs, corresponding to the different tariff zones and the first seven weight steps, are available from the Newvision E-Post 2000 M postal kiosks, with the larger colour screen.
The philatelic department of Correios de Portugal produced an official first day cover, illustrated with the façade of the National Fire Service School in Sintra, and three postmarks for Lisbon and Porto illustrated with a graphic reminiscent of its emblem.
(English edition rewritten by J. Gareze – May 2025)
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