“The fire is completely under control, which we confirmed at 10:19 AM after an aerial survey of the entire perimeter,” stated João Vaz, the Deputy Regional Commander of Emergency and Civil Protection of Alto Alentejo.
The official added that the fire burned “a bit of everything, eucalyptus, pine, shrubs, pasture, cork oaks; it entered the Serra de São Paulo but did not reach the Serra de São Mamede.”
Furthermore, he noted that “some homes” in the Castelo de Vide area, “scattered and located on the forest edge,” were affected, but an assessment of these damages is being conducted by the municipal government of this Alentejo municipality, in the Portalegre district.
The fire “has a perimeter of seven kilometers, from the tail to the edge, but then the whole edge extends for 33 kilometers,” João Vaz indicated.
The Deputy Regional Commander of Alto Alentejo emphasized that, now that the fire is under control, “work on mop-up and consolidation continues,” with resources “spread mainly across the most critical areas to react to potential reignitions that may occur.”
“And it is expected that they occur due to the severe weather conditions [expected today] and the accumulated heat of recent weeks, with the fuels being extremely dry,” he warned.
The alert for this incident was given to the authorities at 2:01 PM on Thursday, having ignited in a brush area in Tapada do Loureiro, Ribeira de Nisa e Carreiras parish, in Portalegre municipality, according to the Sub-Regional Command of Emergency and Civil Protection of Alto Alentejo.
That same afternoon, it advanced to the neighboring municipality of Castelo de Vide and approached the urban perimeter of the town.
In a statement to Lusa, early Thursday evening, the Mayor of Castelo de Vide, António Pita, indicated that the fire had come close to the town, but at that moment there were “no homes in danger.”
“The fire came from Portalegre, caught the Serra de São Paulo and the National Road 521 (EN521), and moved towards the medium urban space of the town,” he reported.
The mayor mentioned that there was a more complicated situation with flames near a fuel station, but it was resolved without incident.
The incident resulted in four minor injuries among the personnel involved in fighting the flames, including a forest firefighter and three firefighters.
At 11:20 AM, according to the website of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), the fire mobilized 236 personnel, supported by 80 vehicles.
Due to the incident, various national and regional roads were closed in that area.
