The heatwave shows no sign of easing, and neither do the first major wildfires of the season. At 18:00 this Friday, six wildfires were burning in Portugal. To respond to these incidents, more than 1,500 emergency personnel were on the ground, supported by around 500 vehicles and 25 aircraft.
This situation led the Portuguese government to activate the European Civil Protection Mechanism on Friday, requesting the deployment of four Canadair water-bombing planes and a team from the Military Emergencies Unit of the Spanish Armed Forces, the government said in a statement sent to newsrooms.
The Ministry of Internal Administration also triggered the bilateral agreements in the field of civil protection signed with Spain and Morocco. “Spain has already made a Canadair aircraft available today” under this pact, the ministry added.
The greatest concern is the fire in the municipality of Vouzela, in the district of Viseu, which broke out in the early hours of Thursday. The blaze has several active fronts and continues to spread, fuelled by high temperatures and some wind.
According to information on the Civil Protection website, at 18:00 around 1,100 personnel were fighting the flames, supported by about 360 ground assets and eleven aircraft.
The National Civil Protection Authority confirmed to the Lusa news agency in the morning that the fire is threatening homes and has already forced the closure of the Vouga railway line between Mourisca do Vouga and Águeda. At least seven people have been injured, according to the ANPC.
Besides Vouzela, the flames have spread to three more municipalities: Oliveira de Frades, Águeda and Tondela, where two villages were partially evacuated as a precautionary measure.
According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (source in Portuguese) (EFFIS), consulted by Euronews at 14:00, the fire has already burned more than 11,000 hectares of land.
In addition to Vouzela, a fire in Barcelos which, at 18:00, was being tackled by 92 personnel and dozens of vehicles, had several active fronts that were beginning to yield to the resources on site, a Civil Protection source told Lusa.
Alongside these two major blazes, there is also a fire in Cinfães, for which around 80 firefighters, dozens of vehicles and one aircraft have been mobilised.
Interior minister raises possibility of arson in Vouzela fire
The minister of Internal Administration has raised the possibility of arson in the large-scale fire, which started during the night.
“Night-time conditions are not conducive to ignitions, and yet there were two ignitions at around two or three in the morning,” Luís Neves told journalists in Torres Novas, stressing that “everything suggests that there was human involvement, in other words, a criminal act”.
The minister said that the “country is prepared” to fight the fires, recalling that the situation in that municipality in the district of Viseu is particularly sensitive because of its size and the number of active fronts.
Speaking in Toronto, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said the country “is getting ready” to tackle the fires and the tough season ahead, and insisted that Portugal is using all of its capacity to do so.
Portugal in the red: mainland at maximum fire risk
Almost all of Portuguese territory is under a warning for maximum or very high rural fire danger, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA). Only six coastal districts are at moderate risk.
The government yesterday declared a state of alert, in force from 00:00 today until 23:59 on Monday, due to the “significant worsening of rural fire risk”. IPMA notes that the restrictions set out in the government’s alert notice override those defined by the Rural Fire Danger classes.
Exceptional measures include a ban on access to, movement within and staying inside forest areas, and a ban on fireworks or other pyrotechnic devices. Burning vegetation and certain types of work in forest and rural areas are also prohibited. The alert also implies a reinforcement of surveillance arrangements and a higher level of readiness for the authorities, namely the GNR and PSP police forces.
The country is in the grip of an intense heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in some regions. Very hot nights are also expected, with minimum temperatures above 20 degrees and very low humidity.
IPMA has placed 13 mainland districts under a red warning, the most severe level, because of the heat. Bragança, Faro, Guarda, Vila Real and Viseu are on orange alert.
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