The president of the Seia Municipality, Luciano Ribeiro, stated, “Once the evacuation order was issued early in the afternoon,” around 55 people from “some villages in the Seia municipality, as well as from the Arganil municipality,” were gathered at the Casa do Povo de Vide.
Ribeiro was speaking to Lusa at 8:00 pm, providing an update on the forest fire that ignited in the Açor mountains in the Arganil municipality at 5:08 am today, spreading to the neighboring municipalities of Oliveira do Hospital and Seia, where it has been burning “since the early afternoon.”
The fire, Ribeiro explained, is advancing in the União de Freguesias de Vide e Cabeça, particularly threatening “the localities along the Piódão river,” in a valley where “firefighting is challenging.”
“At the moment, the firefighters have the fire under control, keeping it away from various villages, and it progresses through areas that are difficult to access, but the firefighters have ensured the safety of all villages,” stated the president of Seia. He added that, so far, there have been no reports of injuries due to the blaze.
The mayor noted that “there is a little wind” at the moment, and “a change in direction is also anticipated, which increases its unpredictability in the deeply entrenched valleys” of the region, which burned in the 2017 fires.
The forest fire in Arganil, presumed to have been caused by a dry thunderstorm, mobilized seven hundred operational personnel and five airborne units throughout the day. By nightfall, the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) page recorded 858 operational staff, supported by 271 vehicles and one airborne unit.
In Arganil, besides Chãs de Égua and Foz de Égua (Piódão parish), the flames approached the localities of Porto Silvado, Sobral Magro, and Vale do Torno, among others, already within the parish of Pomares in the same municipality.
Strong winds, the terrain’s steep slopes, and tight valleys, along with heavy smoke, have complicated firefighting efforts, according to local officials.
