As per the official website of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), 3,181 personnel were deployed at 05:15 in the most affected areas, supported by 1,065 land resources.
The wildfire in Arganil, in the district of Coimbra, which broke out on Wednesday, involved 827 personnel and 289 land resources, while in Lousã, in the same district, 481 personnel were engaged with 151 vehicles.
The fire that started in Sátão on Wednesday merged with the one that began in Trancoso over a week ago (day 9), spreading to 11 municipalities in the districts of Viseu and Guarda.
The 11 municipalities are: Sátão, Sernancelhe, Moimenta da Beira, Penedono, and São João da Pesqueira (Viseu district); Aguiar da Beira, Trancoso, Fornos de Algodres, Mêda, Celorico da Beira, and Vila Nova de Foz Côa (Guarda district).
The official ANEPC website lists resources deployed for the two original fires.
According to Civil Protection, at 05:15 in the Sátão fire, 710 personnel and 236 vehicles were involved, while for the fronts originating in Trancoso, 423 personnel were deployed, supported by 140 vehicles.
The fire in Poiares, Freixo de Espada à Cinta (Bragança), in the Douro region, which started on Friday, engaged 238 personnel and 88 land resources, while the fire in Sabugal (Guarda) involved 166 personnel and 50 vehicles.
Also in Guarda, in Pêra do Moço, the fight against the flames involved 142 personnel and 53 vehicles.
In Tarouca, in the Viseu district, there were 109 personnel supported by 31 vehicles.
The fire in Mondim de Basto, Vila Real district, was declared contained at 04:15 today, according to a source from the Sub-regional Command of Ave.
At 05:15, 136 personnel remained on-site, supported by 43 vehicles, according to ANEPC’s webpage.
Continental Portugal has been affected by multiple rural fires since July, especially in the North and Central regions, in a context of high temperatures that led to the declaration of a state of alert, in force until today.
The fires caused one death and several injuries, most of which were minor, and completely or partially destroyed primary and secondary homes, as well as agricultural and livestock farms and forested areas.
Portugal activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which two Fire Boss planes are expected to arrive on Monday to reinforce the firefighting efforts.
According to provisional official data, by August 16, 139,000 hectares had burned in the country, 17 times more than in the same period of 2022. Nearly half of this area was consumed in just two days this week.
