“I still don’t have an exhaustive assessment done, as our main concern was saving lives, and fortunately, there was never any issue in that regard, but there was damage to a primary residence and another secondary house”, stated João Paulo Sousa, the Mayor of Vila Nova de Foz Côa.
The mayor mentioned that the family from the first residence “was not displaced, they had an alternative,” and the owner of the second residence “has a home,” and the damaged one “was where animals and farming tools were once kept.”
“Indeed, a chapel in Cedovim, near the cemetery, burned down. It was a small chapel where religious floats were also stored, and now we will, together with the parish and other entities, assess the damages and, of course, we will assist in its reconstruction”, he affirmed.
The fires that swept through the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in the district of Guarda, left a trail of destruction in “agricultural land, farming equipment, warehouses, a lot was burned”, added the mayor, noting that they would only assess the damage on Monday.
“At that time, we activated our municipal civil protection plan,” he mentioned.
In statements made at 6:00 PM, the mayor indicated that the situation was “more stable” in the municipality after facing significant problems, particularly in two parishes: Cedovim and Horta.
“The fire reached us from the neighboring municipality of Mêda [also in the district of Guarda] and now, after two difficult days, the information I have is that since this morning there have been no active hotspots in the municipality,” he stated.
However, he added, all the municipal leaders remain “extremely concerned,” as temperatures or some wind could lead to reigniting or new fire outbreaks.
The fire that reached Vila Nova de Foz Côa originated from two fires – Sátão (district of Viseu) and Trancoso (district of Guarda) – and on Friday they merged into one, spreading across 11 municipalities in the two districts.
The 11 municipalities are: Sátão, Sernancelhe, Moimenta da Beira, Penedono, and São João da Pesqueira (district of Viseu); Aguiar da Beira, Trancoso, Fornos de Algodres, Mêda, Celorico da Beira, and Vila Nova de Foz Côa (district of Guarda).
The Vila Boa fire, in the parish of Ferreira de Aves, Sátão, was alerted at 1:03 AM on Wednesday and reached the municipalities of Sernancelhe, also in the district of Viseu, and Aguiar da Beira, district of Guarda, the same day.
The alert for the fire in Freches, municipality of Trancoso, district of Guarda, occurred more than a week ago on the 9th, at 5:21 PM.
The official website of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) has the resources distributed across both original fires.
At 6:30 PM, in Sátão, 641 operatives were mobilized, supported by 208 vehicles and four aircraft, and in Trancoso, 401 operatives with 128 vehicles and one aircraft.
In total, the fire mobilized 1,042 operatives, supported by 336 vehicles and five aircraft.
Mainland Portugal has been affected by numerous rural fires since July, particularly in the North and Center regions, amid high temperatures that prompted the declaration of a state of alert, in effect until today.
The fires caused one death and several injuries, most of which were not serious, and completely or partially destroyed primary and secondary residences and agricultural and livestock facilities, alongside forest areas.
Portugal activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which, two Fire Boss planes are expected to arrive on Monday to reinforce firefighting efforts.
According to provisional official data, up to August 16, 139,000 hectares have burned nationwide, 17 times more than in the same period in 2024. Nearly half of this area was consumed in just two days this week.
