Portugal, hit by a third heat wave since early July, was battling several fires on Monday as the country was on high alert until Tuesday for the risk of forest fires. On the afternoon of this Monday, about 2,000 firefighters mobilized to put out the flames throughout the territory, according to civil protection data.
The largest fire was developing in the Vila Real region, in the extreme north, and had been advancing since the day before inside a mountainous area that was difficult to access.
“According to provisional estimates, this fire has burned 4,500 hectares,” national civil protection commander André Fernandes said during a noon update.
94,000 hectares burned
To fight this forest fire, Portugal could count from Monday on the support of two Greek Canadair sent as part of the European solidarity mechanism. The state of alarm, decreed by the Government on Sunday, significantly restricts access to forests, prohibits fireworks and plans to reinforce the level of relief mobilization.
During the days of Monday and Tuesday, the Portuguese Meteorological Institute (IPMA) forecast temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius in the interior regions of the country. Portugal, which is experiencing an exceptional drought this year, experienced the hottest month of July in almost a century.
Since January, more than 94,000 hectares have been burned in the country, the largest area since the deadly fires of 2017 that killed some 100 people, according to the latest report from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF). ) .
Alone, the forest fire in the Serra da Estrela natural park, a mountainous region in central Portugal classified by UNESCO, consumed more than 25,000 hectares of vegetation in eleven days, before being declared under control on Wednesday.
An upcoming “revitalization plan”
Given the magnitude of this fire, the government has decided to soon decree “a state of natural disaster”, which will allow the rapid release of aid, the Minister of the Presidency, Marina Vieira da Silva, told the press after meeting on Monday with the mayors. of the affected municipalities.
“During the next 15 days, the state services and the municipalities will proceed to survey the damages caused by this fire,” said the minister before adding that a “revitalization plan” for this park will be presented in September natural. According to scientists, global warming increases the probability of heat waves, droughts and, in turn, forest fires.
Source: BFM TV
