The same source informed Lusa that the fire that also broke out on Saturday in the Montesinho Natural Park (PNM), in Soutelo and Carragosa, has a provisional area of 490 hectares of land consumed by flames, making it the second largest recorded this year. These two fires that broke out in the Bragança district were fought by 1,246 firefighters.
In the fire that broke out in the Union of Parishes of Caçarelhos and Angueira, in Vimioso, about 625 operatives were involved over three days, supported by 207 vehicles, 11 bulldozers, and 17 Portuguese and Spanish aerial resources.
Despite the “muscular attack,” the fire ended up spreading to São Martinho de Angueira and Cicouro, in Miranda do Douro, causing alarm in these border villages due to the intensity of the flames and sudden wind changes.
This fire was initially reported as contained early Sunday, but ended up experiencing a “strong reignition.”
The Sub-Regional Commander of Emergency and Civil Protection of Terras de Trás-os-Montes, João Noel Afonso, said at the time that the fire “had a strong reignition, and a front with great intensity was fought.”
This fire entered “surveillance phase” at the end of Monday.
In the PNM fire, 621 operatives, 217 vehicles, four bulldozers, and 12 aerial resources were involved.
According to João Noel Afonso, one of the main obstacles in fighting the flames in this fire was the fact that it was embedded in a deep escarpment, with no access for firefighting resources.
An official GNR source told Lusa that for now, all available elements “are provisional,” explaining that “it is necessary to divide the burned area into forest, agricultural, and scrubland,” deferring official data for these two fires in the Northeast Trás-os-Montes region to the end of the week.
