Portugal: Wildfires Continue to Devastate Northern and Central Regions
As of Wednesday, approximately forty wildfires continue to ravage northern and central Portugal, which has been engulfed by a series of blazes fueled by heat and wind for several days. Local authorities report that these fires have resulted in at least seven fatalities.
The civil protection agency stated on its website that there are currently 42 active fire fronts, with around 3,900 firefighters supported by more than a thousand vehicles battling the flames.
Local media indicate that authorities conducted additional evacuations overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday in the municipality of Gondomar, situated in the northern Porto region. Firefighters described the situation as “uncontrollable” in Arouca, located within the district of Aveiro, the area hardest hit by the disasters.
In this region alone, approximately 20,000 hectares of vegetation have reportedly burned since Monday, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis). This report also noted about fifteen other fires across the country that have exceeded the threshold of 1,000 hectares consumed this week.
In the Aveiro region, multiple fronts of a cluster of four fires, forming a perimeter of roughly one hundred kilometers, were nearing containment thanks to ongoing firefighting efforts, authorities reported on Tuesday evening.
Tragically, three firefighters lost their lives on Tuesday after being trapped by flames near Tabua in the Coimbra region (central Portugal), raising the total death toll to seven, along with approximately fifty injuries.
