NELLAS, Portugal, Sept 17 (Askume) – Dozens of wildfires raged across the country’s central and northern regions on Tuesday, killing three Portuguese firefighters, officials said, bringing the death toll from the latest wildfires to seven since Saturday.
Portugal is fighting more than 50 active wildfires on its continent, deploying some 5,300 firefighters and seeking help from the European Union.
Authorities closed several highways, including a section of the main highway linking Lisbon and Porto, and suspended rail links on two lines in northern Portugal.
Three firefighters from the Vilanova de Olivinha fire brigade, about 300 kilometers from Lisbon, were rescued and died while fighting a blaze in the town of Nelas, 190 miles (160 km) northeast, Andre Fernandes, commander of the ANEPC Civil Protection Directorate, told reporters.
Askume footage from that night showed local residents pouring water on the fire spreading near Nelas.
Fernandez’s deputy Mario Silvestre had earlier said the overall situation was “calm, but still worrying and complicated… several villages are affected and the teams are very scattered in the area of operation”.
He was speaking at the command centre in Oliveira de Azeméis, in the northwestern Aveiro district, which has suffered the most damage of the four fires so far, which have killed four people.
Fires in Aveiro alone have burned more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and bush in the past two days, officials said, almost the same area burned by fires across the country since late August.
Fernandes said on Monday that the Aveiro fire could destroy 20,000 hectares of land.
Portugal and neighbouring Spain have had fewer fires than usual after rain earlier this year, but both countries are also hit by persistent hot and dry weather that scientists blame on global warming.
When the fires first broke out over the weekend, strong winds helped push temperatures across the country above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Meteorological agency IPMA forecasts temperatures to remain above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees) over the next two days and humidity to be extremely low.
The report said fire danger would remain “high, very high or highest” in the north and central regions.
“We have to be realistic. We are going to go through difficult times in the coming days and we have to be prepared,” Prime Minister Luis Montenegro told reporters on Monday night.
The government on Monday requested assistance from the European Commission under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism , resulting in Spain, Italy and Greece sending two water bombers each.
