“Despite a calm night [from Monday to Tuesday] that brought some tranquility and the belief that the fire lines were reduced to just a few reignitions, those reignitions again led to major fires,” stated Jorge Custódio.
The mayor reported that the fire became uncontrolled again in the afternoon, and the municipality continues to have multiple active fronts, endangering villages, “some of which the fire had already passed through but which are burning again where it hadn’t before.”
“Well, that’s what we have,” he lamented.
According to Custódio, the fire continues to threaten the villages of Esteiro, Porto de Vacas, Machialinho, Adurão, Carregal do Zêzere, and Dornelas do Zêzere.
The fire has a “considerable extent” and is estimated by municipal services to have consumed around 7,000 hectares in the municipality.
The nightly strategy remains the same day after day: “To try, with the decrease in temperature and increase in humidity, to have another night of fighting to, once again, reduce the fire,” he said.
The mayor noted that, so far, there is no knowledge of primary residential houses being affected in the municipality.
Pampilhosa da Serra had already been impacted by another fire that started in Covilhã on August 10 and was reported as controlled on the 13th, now confronting the major fire since Wednesday, which began in Arganil, also in the Coimbra district, and spread to the districts of Castelo Branco and Guarda.
“We have been without sleep for a week and a half,” Custódio lamented.
Continental Portugal has been plagued by numerous rural fires since July, especially in the North and Central regions, amidst high temperatures that prompted the declaration of a state of alert from August 2.
The fires have resulted in two fatalities, including one firefighter, and multiple injuries, mostly minor, while totally or partially destroying primary and secondary residences, agricultural operations, and forested areas.
Portugal activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which two Fire Boss aircraft arrived to assist in firefighting efforts.
According to provisional official data, over 201,000 hectares have burned in the country to date, more than the total area burned throughout 2024.
