According to data provided by the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), from January 1 to August 14, 74,931 hectares had burned, a figure that has risen to 139,091 as of today.
This information reveals that in just the last two days, 64,160 hectares burned, 46% of the total burned since the beginning of the year.
Compared to the same period last year, the burnt area this year is about 17 times greater than the 7,949 hectares that burned between January 1 and August 15, 2024.
The burnt area this year is also the second largest since 2017, a year which recorded a total of 164,249 hectares of burnt area by August 15.
The ICNF specifies that since the beginning of the year, up to today, 6,229 fires have been reported, the majority in scrubland (48%) and forest stands (40%), with the rest occurring in agricultural land (12%).
Compared to the same period last year, the number of fires increased by 79%.
Over the last two days, from August 14 to 16, an additional 231 fires were recorded, rising from 5,998 to 6,229.
Portugal has been on alert due to the fire risk since August 2.
