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Portugal at war with fires

2023-08-08 08:17:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Portugal at war with fires

Hundreds of firefighters are battling wildfires in southern Portugal that have burned thousands of hectares of land and forced more than 1,400 people to evacuate.

The wildfires, which are currently being fought by more than 800 firefighters, started on Saturday in the municipality of Odemira, in the Allentezho region, but have since spread south towards the Algarve, one of Portugal's main tourist destinations.

High temperatures and strong winds have complicated the effort to extinguish the fires that have destroyed about 6,700 hectares of land. On Monday, in Odemira, due to smoke, the sky turned black.

The president of Odemira, Helder Guerrerio, said that the situation is "critical, difficult and complicated". Meanwhile, the commander of the Civil Defense, Jose Riberio, said that "there is still a lot of work" before the fires are brought under control.

From 19 small villages, four of which are tourist destinations, residents have been evacuated as a preventive measure. The authorities also said that some roads have been blocked.

Southern European states, such as Portugal, have faced high temperatures this summer, prompting authorities to warn of health risks.

Scientists have said that heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense and spread out over the season due to climate change.

Portugal's weather agency, IMPA, said on Monday that six counties in the country, including the capital, Lisbon, had been placed on red alert due to extreme heat.

The authorities have stated that over 120 municipalities throughout Portugal are most at risk from wildfires.

"The climatic conditions that we will experience in the coming days mean that a small fire can turn into a large fire," said the state secretary of Civil Defense, Patricia Gaspar, during a press conference.

Three counties in the north of Portugal are also on red alert on Tuesday, as temperatures are expected to reach 41 degrees Celsius in the northern city of Kastello Branko./REL





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