The civil protection official said in Portugal Andre Fernandes: “The situation is not out of control but it is very complicated, it will be a confusing day and tomorrow as well.”
Portugal requested support for the mechanism. European Civil Protection In order to obtain more air means to extinguish the fires, at a time when the country has about 30 water-dropping planes and helicopters.
The president said European Commission Ursula von der Leyen via X platform: “We will mobilize 8 planes to fight the fires urgently,” expressing her gratitude toFrance Greece, Italy and Spain for their “rapid response”.
And it led to forest fires The fire, which has been raging since the end of last week, has injured at least 12 firefighters, two of whom are in critical condition, and forced the evacuation of about 70 people, according to a tally provided by Civil Protection.
A volunteer firefighter who was battling a blaze near Oliveira de Azemés in the northern Aveiro region died suddenly during a meal break on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said Monday.
More than 2,300 firefighters were mobilized to put out about 26 fires and emergency services were put on alert between Saturday afternoon and Tuesday evening, as the risk of fires was very high depending on the region, due to forecasts of high temperatures and strong winds.
The largest fire broke out on Sunday afternoon near Oliveira de Azemés, where nearly 600 firefighters were mobilized.
In the Aveiro region, but a little further south, at least two houses caught fire in two villages in the Albergaria Avelha district, according to Mayor Antonio Loureiro.
And announced Gendarmerie Traffic was halted on three highways in the same area.
Two other houses were destroyed in Cabeceiras de Basto in the Braga district, according to local authorities.
Portugal has so far had a relatively quiet summer in terms of forest fireswith 10,300 hectares of land burning by the end of August, a third of the area in 2023 and seven times less than the average of the past ten years.
After the 2017 fires that killed more than 100 people, the state doubled its investments in forest fire prevention and control.
According to scientists, it increases Global warming Heat waves, droughts and fires are likely to occur.
The Iberian Peninsula is on the front lines of global warming. Europe With the increasing frequency of heat waves, droughts and fires.
