Los forest fires in Portugal no respite: andSpanish cash from the UME They join the extinction efforts. Authorities lower the death toll from seven to five.
More than a hundred forest fires remain active in Portugal. In just three days, the fires have devastated much of the central and northern regions, making 2024 the fourth worst year of the last decade in terms of hectares devastated by flames.
Faced with gravity, the Portuguese government has declared the alert situation until the end of Thursday and has assured that They will decree a state of calamity in the affected municipalities to be able to support those affected more quickly.
A total of 5,200 firefighters continue fighting 117 active fireswith the district of Aveiro being the most affected. In Águeda, the situation is “out of control”, while Sever do Vouga and Oliveira de Azeméis, where the fire originated, are the areas that require the most resources, according to the national commander of the ANEPC, André Fernandes.
The neighboring districts of Viseu and Porto also face critical moments, especially in towns such as Gondomarwhere more than 1,200 hectares have been consumed by the forest firesdue to the inability of firefighters to access certain areas.
Likewise, there are several highways and national roads closed and dozens of people evacuated as a precaution. «The weather situation still remains quite unfavorable“said the commander, who explained that they are “in a complicated situation” and “very complex hours” lie ahead before these fires.
UME troops join the efforts to extinguish the forest fires
Currently operating in the region eight Canadair amphibious aircraft: four French, two Spanish and two Italian. Two more from Morocco will be added in the next few hours, according to the national commander of the ANEPC. Furthermore, there are 270 troops from the Spanish Military Emergency Unit.
Until last Sunday, the fire season in the Portugal Continental suggested that the year would pass relatively calmly. However, in just three days, the hectares consumed they went from about 18,600 to more than 90,000according to figures from the European Forest Fire Information System.
Although temperatures are dropping and significant rainfall is expected for the end of the week, Civil Protection has indicated that The high and extreme risk of fire remains for the next 48 hours. “We still cannot give up, the situation is still complicated,” added Fernandes.
Five deaths confirmed
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) has reported this Wednesday that they are five died from the forest fires that have devastated Portugal since Sunday, two less than those initially reported. While, the injured number 11810 of them in serious condition.
Fernandes explained that this updated figure comes from official data provided to them by the National Institute of Medical Emergency. For this reason, one person who died in his home and another who died on public roads have been left out of the count, both “suddenly” and without direct exposure to the flames, which spread in the country during the end of week.