Portugal battles to contain wildfires
Seventeen major fires blazed with the most serious in the centre and north of the country.
Some 750 firefighters sought to control a blaze in a eucalyptus forest in the Arouca municipality of central Portugal.
"This is currently the fire on which we are concentrating all efforts and reinforcements," Mario Silvestre, head of the National Authority for Civil Protection, told a press conference.
Hundreds more battled a blaze near the central town of Penamacor and one on a mountain at Ponte da Barca near the northern border with Spain. Four Spanish water carrying planes joined the effort on Monday.
"We are experiencing a difficult moment," Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said after visiting the national emergency service headquarters.
In all, 26 firefighting aircraft were in the air, civil protection officials said.
Some 20 people, including 14 firefighters, were treated for minor injuries.
The Ponte da Barca fire, which started on Saturday, forced the evacuation of some people to a local church and burnt nearly 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land, according to preliminary estimates.
Authorities said the fires could worsen in coming days because of the heat.
"The only factor that we will be able to control in the coming days ... is human behaviour," said Silvestre.
Like many countries, Portugal faces wildfires every summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of droughts and fires around the world.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- New Straits Times
Portugal battles to contain wildfires
LISBON: Almost 2,700 firefighters battled Tuesday to contain forest blazes across Portugal that have led to almost the whole country being put on high alert for fires. Seventeen major fires blazed with the most serious in the centre and north of the country. Some 750 firefighters sought to control a blaze in a eucalyptus forest in the Arouca municipality of central Portugal. "This is currently the fire on which we are concentrating all efforts and reinforcements," Mario Silvestre, head of the National Authority for Civil Protection, told a press conference. Hundreds more battled a blaze near the central town of Penamacor and one on a mountain at Ponte da Barca near the northern border with Spain. Four Spanish water carrying planes joined the effort on Monday. "We are experiencing a difficult moment," Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said after visiting the national emergency service headquarters. In all, 26 firefighting aircraft were in the air, civil protection officials said. Some 20 people, including 14 firefighters, were treated for minor injuries. The Ponte da Barca fire, which started on Saturday, forced the evacuation of some people to a local church and burnt nearly 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land, according to preliminary estimates. Authorities said the fires could worsen in coming days because of the heat. "The only factor that we will be able to control in the coming days ... is human behaviour," said Silvestre. Like many countries, Portugal faces wildfires every summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of droughts and fires around the world.
New Straits Times
18-07-2025
- New Straits Times
Spain taming fire that belched smoke cloud over Madrid
MADRID: Spanish firefighters today were bringing under control a forest fire near Madrid that had cloaked the capital in a huge cloud of acrid smoke. The blaze that broke out yesterday around 50km southwest of the city had burned 3,100ha, the Madrid region's leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso wrote on X. More than 100 firefighters and the Spanish army's emergencies unit were deployed on the ground and in the air to extinguish the flames. "The fire is now contained," Madrid's emergency services agency said, warning that the wind forecast for today "could make the work difficult". Madrid's civil protection authority advised people to stay indoors yesterday as the gigantic cloud of orange and grey smoke hung over the city, recommending masks to avoid inhaling ash. Normality was returning today in the municipalities closest to the fire, with a major motorway reopened and clear skies in Madrid. Although the cause of the fire is unknown, Spain is experiencing hotter summers stoked by human-induced climate change, which increases the length, frequency and intensity of wildfires. More than 25,000ha have burned so far this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. — AFP
The Sun
14-07-2025
- The Sun
Heatwaves in Spain caused 1,180 deaths in past two months, ministry says
MADRID: High temperatures caused 1,180 deaths in Spain in the past two months, a sharp increase from the same period last year, the Environment Ministry said on Monday. The vast majority of people who died were over 65 and more than half were women, the data it cited showed. The most affected regions were Galicia, La Rioja, Asturias and Cantabria - all located in the northern half of the country, where traditionally cooler summer temperatures have seen a significant rise in recent years. Like other countries in Western Europe, Spain has been hit by extreme heat in recent weeks, with temperatures often topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The 1,180 people who died of heat-related causes between May 16 and July 13 compared with 70 in the same period in 2024, the ministry said in a statement citing data from the Carlos III Health Institute. The number of deaths increased significantly in the first week in July. The data shows an event 'of exceptional intensity, characterized by an unprecedented increase in average temperatures and a significant increase in mortality attributable to heatwaves', the ministry said. In the period the data covers, there were 76 red alerts for extreme heat, compared with none a year earlier. Last summer, 2,191 deaths were attributed to heat-related causes in Spain, according to data from the Carlos III Health Institute. The data from Spain follows a rapid scientific analysis published on July 9 that said around 2,300 people died of heat-related causes across 12 European cities during a severe heatwave in the 10 days to July 2. It was not immediately clear whether the study conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was using the same methodology as the Spanish data. – Reuters
