Forest fires are raging in many areas Portugal, where up to 2,800 firefighters mobilized yesterday Sunday to bring them under control. THE heat prompted the government to step up the mobilization of emergency services by declaring the state machinery on “standby” to deal with emergencies.
The biggest front has been raging since Thursday in the Urem region (central), where almost 700 firefighters are trying to control the flames.
“THE fire arrived 50 meters from the last house of the village (…). Everything burned up there,” Donzilia Marquez told AFP, referring to the hills between her community, Travesa de Almogadel, and the town of Frecianda.
The pensioner, 76, who was rushed from her home on Saturday night, was able to return yesterday morning to find to her great relief that no houses in her community had been damaged.
The fire, which charred at least 15,000 hectares of vegetation according to a first estimate, nevertheless destroyed at least two houses, according to emergency services, which proceeded with temporary evacuations in other villages threatened by the flames.
A few kilometers away, some 450 firefighters were battling another fire, which broke out in the community of Pombal, on the border of the districts of Lairía and Santarem.
The fires of the last few days had the result of slightly injuring around forty people, firefighters and civilians, however, most of the victims simply had to be treated on the spot, as they had mainly suffered poisoning due to smoke inhalation or showed symptoms of exhaustion, according to the report published last night the head of Civil Protection, Andre Fernandez.
‘Peak of extreme weather’ is coming
For the third day in a row, the forces of the Portuguese fire brigade were confronted with around a hundred fires throughout the Iberian country, while “peak extreme weather” hasn’t even arrived yetemphasized Mr. Fernandes.
Thermometers have already hit 44°C in some places, but Portugal’s national meteorological service is predicting that the temperature will rise even further by the middle of this week.
After this “high-risk” weekend, as Prime Minister Antonio Costa put it, who canceled a planned trip to Mozambique to monitor the situation closely, the Portuguese government decided to declare a state of “preparedness for any possibility” the immediate assistance services from today Monday to Friday, as reported by the AFP and relayed by the Athens News Agency. Apart from increasing the level of preparedness of the state apparatus, this measure also allows it to impose more restrictions.
Lisbon also asked the European Union to activate the common mechanism of Civil Protection, thus ensuring the dispatch of two firefighting aircraft stationed in Spain.
Although Interior Minister Jose Luis Carneiro estimated that Portugal was facing the “worst combination of factors” since the fires of June and October 2017, when more than a hundred people had lost their lives, President Marcelo Hebelo de Souza from for his part, he considers that there is no “comparison” of the level of preparedness of the state apparatus.
The fires that are multiplying around the globe are attributed by scientists to global warming. Rising temperatures, heat waves that multiply and lengthen, and a decrease in rainfall in places are a combination that favors an increase in the number and intensity of fires.
Source: News Beast
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