No fewer than 1,5000 firefighters are currently battling multiple forest fires and several bush fires in central and northern Portugal following a punishing heatwave, prompting the government to implement a ‘state of contingency’.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that since Thursday, there have been numerous fires that have destroyed at least two homes. On Friday and Saturday, it was claimed that approximately 250 flames had begun.
The fires follow a severe heatwave that hit Portugal this week and caused temperatures to surge to over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days.
Scientists say climate change is linked to more extreme and more frequent weather events, including heatwaves and forest fires.
The Portuguese government had on Sunday issued a national ‘state of contingency’ as the latest fires raged Sunday, which puts rescue personnel on alert. It is above state of alert, but beneath state of calamity and state of emergency.
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The Civil Protection agency said there were some 1,500 firefighters battling blazes in Ourem, Pombal and Carrazeda de Ansiaes municipalities.
In the hamlet of Travessa de Almogadel in central Portugal, pensioner Donzilia Marques was relived to find her house was not damaged as she returned Sunday after being evacuated the night before.
‘The fire arrived 50 meters (165 feet) from the last house in the village… up there everything burned,’ the 76-year-old told reporters, pointing to the hills between home and the town of Freixianda.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that more than 700 soldiers were dispatched to the area Sunday after the fires destroyed some 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of vegetation, the Civil Protection agency estimated.
The fires have injured a dozen firefighters and about 20 civilians, but most were treated on the spot for breathing problems or exhaustion.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa cancelled a planned trip to Mozambique to follow the fires at home.
Portugal has already seen extreme weather this year, with an extreme drought affecting around 28 percent of the country’s territory in June, compared to just one percent in May.
