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Portugal: Firefighters battle dozens of deadly wildfires

September 17, 2024

Several people have lost their lives in forest fires that have been raging in Portugal since the weekend. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to combat the flames

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Firefighters work to control a fire in Sever do Vouga in northern Portugal on Sept 16, 2024.
Dozens of active fires have raged through northern PortugalImage: Bruno Fonseca/AP/picture alliance

Three firefighters died Tuesday as dozens of wildfires raged in the central and northern regions of Portugal.

Andre Fernandes, commander of the ANEPC civil protection agency, told reporters that three firefighters from the Vila Nova de Oliveirinha fire brigade died while battling a fire in Nelas, a town about 300 kilometers (190 miles) northeast of Lisbon.

The deaths bring the death toll from the latest wildfires to seven since Saturday, officials said. More than 50 people have been injured.

Wildfires in Vilarinho, Portugal
The flames have raged since temperatures topped 30 degrees Celsius over the weekendImage: Pedro Nunes/REUTERS

Dozens of wildfires across the country

Portugal is battling more than 50 active forest fires, mainly in the north and center of the country. More than 5,000 firefighters, civil defense personnel and soldiers are fighting the fires.

A total of 21 firefighting planes and helicopters are also said to be in use. Eight firefighting planes were dispatched by European Union partners in response to a call for help from Lisbon on Monday, with two planes each from Spain, Italy, France and Greece.

Authorities have closed several highways, including a section of the main highway between Lisbon and Porto, and suspended train service on two rail lines in northern Portugal.

"We will have a hard time in the next few days. We have to prepare for it," Prime Minister Luís Montenegro warned.

Wildfires in Portugal fanned by unusually dry September

Portugal faces high fire risk

Temperatures in Portugal topped 30 degrees Celsius over the weekend, when the fires first broke out and were fanned by strong winds.

Jorge Ponte, of the meteorological agency IPMA, told the Reuters news agency that Monday was "one of the worst days ever" for the fire risk in Portugal because of the combination of high temperatures, even close to the sea, wind gusts that reached 70 kilometers per hour and very low humidity, all brought by an anticyclone.

Portugal and neighboring Spain have seen fewer fires than usual after a rainy start to the year. But both remain vulnerable to increasingly hot and dry conditions that scientists blame on global warming.

dh/rmt (dpa, Reuters)