“The heart of the Peneda-Gerês National Park is literally burning. Today, the park suffers a stab to the heart. The impacts of this fire will have effects for a very long future,” stated the vice-president of the Ponte da Barca town council, in the Viana do Castelo district.
Efforts to contact the town council president, Augusto Marinho, were unsuccessful as he hung up, stating, “this is very complicated.”
According to the vice-president, José Alfredo, as of 7:35 PM, the fire was “completely out of control in the areas of Mosteirô and Paradamonte, both in the parish of Britelo, with flames burning near residences.”
“In Mosteirô, it was possible to prevent two homes from being consumed by the fire. Firefighters managed to control the blaze by spraying water from the balconies of homes,” he told the Lusa agency.
José Alfredo spoke during travel to Lourido, in Entre Ambos-os-Rios, an area before Ermida also threatened by the fire near the parish.
According to the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) website, at 7:48 PM, the fire that broke out on Saturday night had mobilized 444 personnel, supported by 150 vehicles and six aircraft.
The Peneda-Gerês National Park spans the districts of Braga (municipality of Terras de Bouro), Viana do Castelo (municipalities of Melgaço, Arcos de Valdevez, and Ponte da Barca), and Vila Real (municipality of Montalegre), covering a total area of about 70,290 hectares.
