The national commander of emergency and civil protection, Mário Silvestre, reported that, between midnight and 17:00 today across mainland Portugal, there were “59 incidents, 13 of which occurred overnight,” involving “1,679 operatives, 443 ground resources, and 96 missions with aerial resources were conducted.”
“Yesterday [Thursday], it is noteworthy that the firefighting operations had a success rate of 94%, meaning that of the 67 incidents, 63 were resolved within the first 90 minutes,” he highlighted.
The operational leader, providing an update at 19:00 from the headquarters of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) in Carnaxide (Oeiras), stated that there were “four incidents of greater concern” located in Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Ribeira de Pena, Moimenta da Beira, and Marco de Canavezes at that time.
For these four fires, 582 operatives, 162 vehicles, and 22 aerial resources were deployed, he pointed out.
In the context of the alert situation declared, extended until Wednesday the 13th, the special readiness level remains at three out of a four-level scale. However, Mário Silvestre added that, based on the analysis of the “meteorological conditions forecast for the coming days,” ANEPC will “raise the special readiness state” of the firefighting force “to level four starting from the 10th.”
The increase to the maximum readiness level from 00:00 on Sunday will be in place until 23:59 on the 12th, aimed at reinforcing the pre-positioning of resources due to the forecast of “significant complexity” in the weather conditions during that period, explained the national commander of ANEPC.
