Fires: Portugal on alert and still ravaged by flames

Portugal, hit by a third heat wave since early July, was battling several fires on Monday as the country was placed on high alert until Tuesday due to the risk of forest fires. On Monday morning, nearly 1,800 firefighters were mobilized to put out the flames across the territory, according to civil protection data.

Temperatures around 40 degrees

The biggest blaze was raging in the region of Vila Real, in the far north, and was progressing inside a mountainous area that was difficult to access. The state of alert, decreed by the government on Sunday, notably restricts access to forests and prohibits the use of machines or the holding of pyrotechnic shows to prevent the outbreak of fire. It also aims to strengthen the level of relief mobilization and their powers. For the days of Monday and Tuesday, the Portuguese Meteorological Institute (IPMA) has forecast temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius in the interior regions of the country.

94,000 hectares went up in smoke

Portugal, which is experiencing an exceptional drought this year, has already experienced the hottest month of July in nearly a century. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 94,000 hectares have gone up in smoke in the country, the largest area since the deadly fires of 2017 which claimed a hundred victims, according to the latest report from the Institute for the conservation of nature and forests (ICNF).

The only forest fire in the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, a mountainous region in central Portugal classified by Unesco, has consumed more than 25,000 hectares of vegetation in recent weeks before being declared under control on Wednesday. According to scientists, global warming increases the likelihood of heat waves as well as droughts and, in turn, fires.