At least 7 people have lost their lives in the fires in the regions of Aveiro and Viseu, while dozens of houses have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and bush land have burned. More than 5,000 firefighters have been mobilized to extinguish them.
Duarte Costa, the president of the national civil protection authority, told CNN Portugal yesterday, Tuesday night, that a special emergency response team made up of 230 Spanish army personnel will be deployed in the Viseu region of central Portugal, where huge fires are of “great concern at this time”.
❗3 people dead – 17 injured in the fires of Porto, Portugal
Currently, more than 30 uncontrolled fires are out of control.#Portugal pic.twitter.com/tfcFakKEkQ
— Avinash K S (@AvinashKS14) September 18, 2024
Morocco is sending up to 4 firefighting planes which will also arrive in Portugal today, he added.
France announced the dispatch of two additional firefighting planes after the two it had already sent to Portugal, as did Spain, Italy and Greece following the Portuguese government’s request for help through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
“We are in a stressful situation, at the limits of our capabilities, and that is why we are asking for help from the European Mechanism, Spain and Morocco,” Costa noted, adding that the aid would allow some replacement of exhausted Portuguese firefighters and maintenance of aircraft.
It’s hell in Portugal
20 killed, 50 injured in fire
16 – 9 – 2024
It’s hell in Portugal
20 killed, 50 injured in fire
16 – 9 – 2024 pic.twitter.com/uwMpTqMW08— 24/7WeatherPhenomenaObserver (@24weather24) September 18, 2024
The Portuguese government has declared a state of disaster in all municipalities affected by the fires, which allows members of the civil protection to access private properties.
Prime Minister Luiz Montenegro said a government team would coordinate providing “the most immediate and urgent support” to those who lost their homes and livelihoods.
At least some of the dozens of fires across Portugal were set by arsonists motivated by possible commercial interest, malice or criminal negligence, noted the prime minister, who pledged “to spare no effort in repressive action” against such crimes.
The Portuguese National Guard, or GNR, also said in a statement that since Saturday it has arrested 7 arson suspects in the areas of Leiria, Castelo Branco, Porto and Braga.
Wildfires have swept across Portugal this week, disrupting travel and prompting a coordinated response from multiple local and international governments. At least four people have died since the fires began over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/6K89QXZUL1
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 17, 2024
Active Focuses
The civil protection service counted today on its website 42 active outbreaks in the country.
According to Portuguese media, the authorities were forced to proceed overnight with further evacuations of areas in the municipality of Gondomar, in the Porto region of northern Portugal, while the fire service described the situation as “uncontrollable” in Aruca, in the heart of the region. Aveiro, which is the worst affected by the disasters.
In this alone, around 200,000 hectares of vegetation had burned as of Monday, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). That joins 15 other fires that have burned more than 10,000 acres this week in the rest of the country.
Three firefighters died yesterday when they were trapped by flames near Tabua, in Coibra, central Portugal, raising the death toll from the blazes, which have also injured around 50 people, to seven.
The other victims are a 28-year-old Brazilian who worked for a forestry company, two people who suffered heart attacks and a volunteer firefighter who died on Sunday after suddenly feeling unwell on the sidelines of a business.
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#active #outbreaks
