“The situation is very complicated, the fire is currently in the locality of Abitureira and has already reached Baraçal and Vila do Touro. The flames are progressing towards the municipality of Guarda,” stated Vítor Proença, Mayor of Sabugal.
The mayor noted a lack of resources to combat the fire, which has “three or four complicated fronts” and is consuming scrubland and some agricultural fields in the western part of the district of Guarda.
According to Vítor Proença, around 200 personnel from security and relief forces are on the ground, supported by three aerial resources and dozens of vehicles, but this is not sufficient.
“A reinforcement from Setúbal arrived recently, but the personnel are still too few for the magnitude of the fire, and there should also be more aerial resources, which are not coming,” he lamented.
According to the Mayor of Sabugal, “the population is helping in every way.” “There is great willingness from the people, which I commend and thank,” he added.
According to the website of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), as of 3:20 PM today, 139 operatives were fighting this fire, supported by 39 vehicles and three aerial resources.
The fire began on Friday in Aldeia de Santo António, a few kilometers from the council’s seat, with the alert being raised at 3:41 PM, according to the ANEPC website.
The flames have threatened localities such as Quintas de São Bartolomeu, Rapoula do Côa, Baracal, and Vila do Touro in the Sabugal municipality, also endangering the neighboring villages of Pêga and Quinta de Gonçalo Martins, already in the municipality of Guarda.
