Hit by an intense heat wave, Portugal decided on Friday July to activate the European civil protection mechanism, as well as its bilateral agreements with neighboring Spain and Morocco, in order to obtain reinforcements to fight against several forest fires.
“We have decided, at this stage, to activate the European civil protection mechanism as well as the bilateral agreements with Spain and Morocco. Not because our capacities are already exhausted, but because, in the current situation, our entire territory is exposed to a very high risk,” declared Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, following a council of ministers.
A forest fire that has been raging in northern Portugal since the night of Wednesday to Thursday left four people injured, on the third day of an intense heat wave. “There are three firefighters lightly injured and one civilian seriously injured, with burns,” said a spokesperson for the National Civil Protection Authority.
Around a thousand firefighters mobilized
The fire which broke out in the early hours of Thursday in the commune of Vouzela, in the district of Viseu, mobilized around a thousand firefighters on Friday, supported by some 300 vehicles and eight planes or helicopters. Four other smaller outbreaks were then fought by at least a hundred firefighters each.
Due to “very hot and dry” weather, with temperatures that could reach 44°C in places, the Portuguese meteorological agency has placed 12 of the 18 districts of the Portuguese continental territory on red alert. This maximum alert level will be maintained on Saturday and Sunday in around ten regions.
Hit every summer by forest fires, Portugal remains marked by deadly fires which left more than a hundred dead in 2017.
