Thanks to a drop in temperatures and the arrival of rain, Portuguese firefighters managed, on Friday 20 September, to bring under control the fires that had ravaged the north and centre of the country this week.
On Friday 20 September, Portugal managed to bring all the forest fires affecting its territory under control, the emergency services have announced. “All the fires that were still active yesterday and at dawn today have been brought under control,” said André Fernandes, the national commander of civil protection, at a press conference.
The drop in temperatures and the arrival of rain have been a great help to the fire brigade. However, heavier downpours could trigger landslides in the coming days in the areas affected by the fires, warns André Fernandes. Dozens of these forest fires have broken out, particularly in the Aveiro region, where four blazes have spread over an area of around 100 kilometres and ravaged approximately 20,000 hectares vegetation, according to an estimate released on Thursday by the European Copernicus observatory.
120,000 hectares which burned down in September – a tragedy that brings back memories of the 2017 fires, when the building was destroyed by fire 500,000 hectares Today, the grim reality is that Portugal’s forests are being destroyed at a rate of 60% .