Wildfires burn nearly 75,000 hectares in Portugal this year
The burned area is Portugal's second-largest since 2017.
The ICNF reported 5,998 rural fires to date, which have consumed 74,931 hectares of land - 50 percent scrubland, 40 percent forest, and 10 percent farmland. In the past 24 hours alone, flames have ravaged over 11,000 hectares. Compared with the same period last year, the number of fires has risen 72 percent, while the area burned is nine times larger.
Satellite data from the European Forest Fire Information System rank Portugal as the third most affected country in the European Union this year, behind Spain and Romania.
At 2:50 p.m. Thursday, the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection reported 46 active wildfires in mainland Portugal.
The government has maintained a national alert status since Aug. 2 due to extreme wildfire risk. With over 120 municipalities in the North, Center, and Algarve regions now at maximum danger level, the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere said authorities are considering extending the alert.
Interior Minister Maria Lucia Amaral warned conditions will deteriorate further on Friday, with dry thunderstorms and strong convective winds expected - the same weather factors that fueled Portugal's deadly 2017 wildfires. She said the alert allows for increased night patrols to curb new outbreaks, noting the rare occurrence of 22 consecutive days of heatwave and major wildfires - a situation last seen in 2003 and 2005.
So far this year, 213 firefighters have been injured in the line of duty, including 112 in the past three weeks, according to the Portuguese Firefighters League.
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