The wildfire that ignited on August 13 in Arganil and has spread to three municipalities in the Castelo Branco district—namely Castelo Branco, Fundão, and Covilhã—remains the largest in terms of deployment, with 1,604 personnel supported by 548 vehicles, according to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority’s website.
The escalation and intensity of the fire front, which entered the Covilhã region on Thursday, led to confinement orders in Unhais da Serra, Cortes de Baixo, and Cortes do Meio, as announced by the district’s municipality at 8:30 PM.
Meanwhile, a fire that started on Wednesday afternoon in Cinco Vilas, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, had moved along the banks of the Côa River into the Almeida and Pinhel municipalities. By 12:30 AM today, it was being battled by 265 personnel, assisted by 80 ground units.
The Mayor of Almeida, António José Machado, emphasized on Thursday evening that the fire in his municipality had been burning intensely since the early afternoon after crossing the Coa River valley.
During the afternoon, a firefighter from the Pinhel brigade sustained serious injuries when the vehicle he was driving was engulfed by flames in Valverde, Almeida.
The 45-year-old volunteer suffered severe burns and was airlifted by the National Institute of Medical Emergency’s helicopter to the hospitals in Coimbra.
Though now being resolved, significant incidents on the ANEPC page show the fire in Sabugal in the Guarda district, which still engaged 192 personnel and 58 ground units, and the one in Sátão in the Viseu district, which involved 48 personnel and 15 vehicles in the field.
Mainland Portugal has been severely impacted by large-scale rural wildfires since July, predominantly in the North and Center regions.
The fires have resulted in three fatalities, including a firefighter, and numerous injuries, some critical, destroying homes entirely or in part, along with agricultural and livestock facilities and forest areas.
Portugal has activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism, under which it has two Fire Boss planes, with an additional two Canadair planes expected to arrive today.
Provisional official data indicate that by August 21, 234,000 hectares had burned in the country, over 53,000 of which were from the fire that began in Arganil.
