The interim report from the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), dated July 31 and released today, reveals that the most common causes of the wildfires investigated up to that date were land clearances and burnings (32%), followed by arson (25%) and rekindlings (8%).
The ICNF notes that out of the 4,758 rural fires recorded up to the end of July, 2,895 were investigated, with causes identified in 61% of these cases.
According to the interim report, between January 1 and July 31, 4,758 rural fires broke out, consuming 33,224 hectares (ha) of land, consisting of woods (15,545 ha), scrubland (13,704 ha), and agricultural areas (3,975 ha).
Compared to the same period last year, the fires consumed nearly seven times more land, and the number of fires increased by 85%.
“The year 2023 recorded, up to July 31, the second-lowest number of fires and the third-highest area burned since 2015,” the document states.
The ICNF highlights that July saw 50% of this year’s fires, totaling 2,367 incidents, and 77% of the area burned, amounting to 25,602 hectares.
The document also indicates that, by the end of July, 40 “large fires” resulted in 27,150 hectares of burned area. The largest fire started on July 26 in Ponte da Barca (Viana do Castelo) and consumed 5,707 hectares of forest. This is followed by fires starting on July 28 in Arouca (Aveiro) with 4,755 hectares, and Penamacor (Castelo Branco) with 2,904 hectares.
The report further indicates that Porto registered the highest number of fires by July 31, with 1,014 incidents, followed by Braga with 445, and Viana do Castelo with 394. The ICNF notes that most of these were small fires that did not exceed one hectare of burned area.
On the other hand, Viana do Castelo district was most affected by burned area, with 7,293 hectares, representing about 22% of the total area, followed by Aveiro with 5,790 hectares (17% of the total), and Castelo Branco with 3,193 hectares (10% of the total).
This report from the ICNF, released today, does not include fires recorded since the beginning of August.
Mainland Portugal is under alert from Sunday to Thursday due to the high risk of fires.
