At 17:55, Leopoldo Rodrigues announced the challenging situation of the ongoing fire in Castelo Branco.
“We are managing six firefighting vehicles from Castelo Branco. The aircraft were here in the morning and then vanished. We lack resources. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Administration need to determine their priority for this area and decide whether they are ready to provide necessary resources and deploy them on the ground,” he stated.
The mayor emphasized that the fire can only be controlled with adequate resources.
“We want to obtain resources but lack them, and people here are anxious and fearful,” he added.
Rodrigues further noted that the most challenging areas of the fire in Castelo Branco are located in the Louriçal do Campo/Torre area and the Ribeira de Eiras region.
The president of the Castelo Branco City Council also expressed gratitude to the local firefighters and their commander, as well as to the commander of the Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command of Beira Baixa.
This fire entered Castelo Branco from the municipality of Fundão and originated in Arganil, Coimbra district, where it started on Wednesday at 5:00 AM.
The fire has also spread to the municipalities of Pampilhosa da Serra and Oliveira do Hospital (Coimbra district), Seia (Guarda), and Covilhã (Castelo Branco).
The Castelo Branco City Council activated the Municipal Emergency and Civil Protection Plan late on Sunday night.
Mainland Portugal has been plagued by multiple large-scale rural fires since July, predominantly affecting the North and Center regions.
The fires have resulted in three fatalities, including a firefighter, and several injuries, some severe, along with the total or partial destruction of primary and secondary residences, agricultural and livestock farms, and forested areas.
Portugal has activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, through which two Fire Boss planes were deployed to support firefighting efforts.
According to provisional official data, as of August 20, more than 222,000 hectares have burned in the country, exceeding the total area burned in the entirety of 2024.
