The fires continue to rage in Portugal. Fanned by scorching temperatures and strong winds, the forest fires, which had hit the center of the country this weekend, resumed with force Tuesday afternoon, causing the evacuation of several villages and mobilizing more than a thousand firefighters.
According to the images taken by the television channels, firefighters and the population were trying to slow down the advance of the flames which threatened localities in the municipalities of Leiria, Pombal, Ourém or Alvaizere, located a little more than a hundred kilometers to the north. of Lisbon. According to data provided by the website of the National Civil Protection Authority, five outbreaks mobilized some 1,300 firefighters, more than 300 vehicles and a dozen planes or helicopters in this same region, at the confluence of the districts of Leiria and of Santarem.
“Extreme” and “unprecedented” weather conditions
Three outbreaks appeared on Tuesday but the other two had already declared themselves at the end of last week, ravaging around 2,500 hectares before being considered as circumscribed on Monday morning. The respite will have been short-lived because these blazes have reactivated with force, thanks to a new rise in temperatures and stronger winds than during the weekend.
“These are extremely violent fires with an already very large perimeter”, confirmed at the start of the evening the national commander of civil protection, André Fernandes, referring to “extreme” and “unprecedented” weather conditions. Several villages were evacuated as well as some 300 people who were in the town of Freixianda, in the commune of Ourém, he said. Traffic was interrupted on several roads, including the A1 motorway which connects Lisbon to northern Portugal.
The nightmare of 2017
Since Thursday, the emergency services have identified around thirty minor injuries and at least a dozen damaged houses, according to a provisional report. In a country that remains traumatized by the deadly fires of 2017, which killed more than a hundred people, the government has decided to strengthen the mobilization of the emergency services and increase their powers.
“The weather forecast for the next few days remains extremely worrying in relation to the risk of fires,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa reiterated on Tuesday, with temperatures expected to exceed 40 degrees in much of Portugal. The thermometer even rose to 43.1 degrees near the town of Abrantes, in the Santarém region. Above all, the heat wave should continue to intensify this Wednesday, with 16 of the 18 districts of the Portuguese mainland placed under red alert by the national meteorological institute, double the day of Tuesday.