State of disaster declared in Portugal due to fires covering more than 100,000 hectares

Civil Protection in Portugal reports 90 active incidents with 17 active fires in progress and 60 in the final phase, it was Prime Minister Luis Montenegro who declared Portugal in State of Disasterthe fires have reached 100,000 hectares.

At the moment they have been reported 7 people died Of these, two were firefighters, in addition to 40 people injured. According to Civil defense 426 operations have been mounted, with 108 vehicles in Soutelo and 122 in Mocao. The Arouca fire is still active, with more than 230 operations and 71 land vehicles.

They have been counted 4 thousand firefighters to put out the intense fires. The fire started on the night of September 17, so schools have been requested to close and in-person classes to be suspended. Google Maps the Serious Fire alert can be displayed.

The European satellite observation service Copernicus revealed that since September 17, the fires had devastated some 15 thousand hectares and a total of had been detected 13 kilometers of fire frontsThe intensity of the storm is threatening an area of ​​210,000 people, the prime minister said.

People have had to evacuate to shelters or to homes with relatives who are not in danger, many of them have lost their homes, so Luis Montenegro promised to recover their homes once the State of Disaster passes.

EU member countries such as Spain, France, Italy and Greecethey pledged to send at least two planes per country to unload water and thus help the Portuguese firefighters. The Spanish army also sent to Portugal 240 soldiers and vehicles from its Military Emergency Unitspecialized in fighting the fire, and the intense smoke and smell reached up to 85 kilometers around.

And it is that the dry and intensely hot climate There has been an increase in fires in forested areas, but an investigation is underway to determine whether they were caused by arson. The European Union said on September 18 that the extreme events were evidence of a “climate breakdown.”

For its part, the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere has issued a forecast with a drop in maximum temperatures, so periods of abundant cloudiness are expected with afternoon rainthis would mean an increase in humidity and a reduction in wind.