Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 2:43 PM
“We were so scared!” says Maria Ribeiro, a pensioner living in Albergaria-a-Velha, a town in Portugal threatened by the vast forest fires that have left four dead and razed nearly 10,000 hectares, with tears in her eyes.
Portugal mobilised more than 3,700 firefighters on Tuesday after asking other European countries for help on Monday to control the fires that destroyed more land in three days than all the blazes recorded during the summer, according to a civil protection report. The biggest fires hit the Aveiro region and were particularly destructive in villages near the municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha.
“All my land was burned… I was lucky that my house was not affected,” said Ribeiro, an 82-year-old woman who lives in the village of Busturenga, which is part of the municipality of Albergaria a Velha, in tears. “We were very scared… nobody came to help us,” she said.
There are around 50 active hotspots across the country and around 1,000 vehicles and around twenty planes and helicopters deployed. Since the authorities requested help from neighbouring countries, two Canadair helicopters sent by Spain have joined the team and aircraft from France, Italy and Greece are expected to arrive during the day.
One of the dead is a 28-year-old Brazilian who worked for a forestry company in Albergaria-a-Velha.
Maria do Carmo Carvalho, 70, is waiting impatiently for the arrival of emergency services. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said, her eyes irritated by the smoke, after trying to fight the flames on Monday with the help of her family to save her poultry.
The flames spread at high speed, fuelled by strong winds and temperatures of over 30ºC, leaving behind a trail of charred trees, burnt bushes and blackened ground.
The country has been on “high alert” for the fires since the weekend, but the situation worsened on Monday and the fires have left at least 40 people injured, including 33 firefighters, according to the latest assessment by the authorities.
Villagers say they have not seen a fire of this magnitude in more than 20 years. “I took shelter in my house. I have never seen anything like it. The fire surrounded the village and planes could not fly because of the smoke,” said Maria Fatima, a 67-year-old woman.
Experts say the increase in heat waves, as well as their increasing duration and intensity, are a consequence of climate change.
The Iberian Peninsula is one of the areas most affected by global warming, and heat waves and drought favour the spread of fires.
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