“It was a very difficult day, at the end of which we have an active front about six kilometers long. We still have a lot of work ahead,” said operational commander Carlos Silva to Lusa agency.
Throughout the day, flames threatened several localities in the municipalities of Trancoso and Fornos de Algodres, and entered the neighboring municipalities of Celorico da Beira in the afternoon and Aguiar da Beira (district of Guarda) by the end of the day.
According to the western sub-regional commander, who has been in operational control of this fire since Monday, 15,000 hectares have already burned.
“Yesterday [Tuesday], the fire was under control, with many points being consolidated, but overnight weather conditions caused numerous reactivations,” he added.
Carlos Silva highlighted that the wind increased in intensity and caused several projections, “which contributed to increasing the burned area by about 3,000 hectares.”
The operational commander expects a “calmer” night since it will be “one of the most favorable so far in terms of wind, despite being 800 meters above sea level, with characteristic mountain winds.”
Temperatures, however, will remain high during the night period, while relative humidity stays low.
“Even so, the situation is more favorable for the work of the men on the ground,” he considered.
A total of 504 operatives remain on site, supported by 168 vehicles, according to the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) page, consulted by Lusa at 21:30.
The forest fire, which began on Saturday in Trancoso, in the district of Guarda, consumed nearly 14,000 hectares of area, according to estimates released today by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
EFFIS, which relies on satellite images from the European Copernicus program, specifies that the burned area of the fire that started in Trancoso and spread to the municipalities of Fornos de Algodres, Aguiar da Beira, and Celorico da Beira totals 13,741 hectares.
The Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) reports that since January 1st, 63,247 hectares have burned in Portugal, half of which in the last three weeks.
The burned area this year is nine times larger than in the same period last year and the second-largest since 2017.
Portugal has been on alert due to the risk of rural fire since August 2nd.
