“The situation has stabilized in the municipality” of Arouca, according to a statement from the Municipal Council citing information from the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection.
It was noted that although there have been “several reignitions,” these have “been promptly tackled by ground forces with the support of tracked machines and aerial resources, currently not posing any major concerns.”
However, the Council urges people to maintain “a vigilant attitude” and to “avoid any risky behavior.”
The Civil Protection agency cited a lack of safety conditions today, due to poor visibility, for deploying more aircraft to combat rural fires in northern Portugal, particularly in the Arouca region.
Speaking to journalists, the national operations deputy, Carlos Pereira, said that from 2:00 PM today there was “extremely high difficulty in deploying aerial resources” to the Arouca fire due to limited visibility caused by smoke in the sky.
Carlos Pereira explained that there was “a lack of visibility and safety conditions” for pilots to operate the aircraft.
By 5:00 PM today, the Arouca fire, which ignited on Monday, had already consumed more than six thousand hectares, according to the official, who provided an update on the ongoing rural fires in continental Portugal from the headquarters of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) in Oeiras.
Currently, according to the official Civil Protection website, 680 personnel and 243 vehicles are fighting these fires in Arouca.
