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The European Union has urged member states to prepare for wildfires this summer as the continent faces another extreme weather shift that scientists say is being triggered by climate change. Portugal has improved its fire safety since wildfires killed more than 100 people in 2017. Four people, including two firefighters, were seriously injured. More than 30 homes and other buildings have been damaged.Ĭivil Protection commander André Fernandes said 160 people, including at least 70 firefighters, have been injured so far, but there are no confirmed fatalities from the fires in Portugal. About 865 people had to evacuate their homes over the past week, although many had returned by Thursday. “From a small act of carelessness a great tragedy can be born.”Ībout 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) have been scorched this week in Portugal, according to the Civil Protection Agency. “More than ever, we are the ones who must be extremely careful,” Costa said. The Portuguese government has temporarily barred public access to forests deemed to be at special risk, banned the use of farm machinery and outlawed fireworks.Ĭosta said firefighters had to respond to 200 different blazes Wednesday and pleaded for his fellow citizens to take extra care when in the countryside. The week-long alert was originally to run until Friday.
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Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa's government on Thursday extended a state of alert for wildfires until Sunday due to high temperatures. The hot air and parched ground, combined with strong winds, has created the perfect cocktail for severe wildfires. In June, 96% of Portugal was classified as being in either in “extreme” or “severe” drought. Temperatures in the interior of the Atlantic country were forecast to hit 44 C (111 F) as hot, dry air blown in from Africa lingers over the western edge of the Iberian Peninsula. More than 800 firefighters were still fighting blazes in the Leiria district, where Bemposta is located, on Thursday. “I am afraid, but where can I go? Jump into a water tank? Let me stay here and look.”
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It’s surrounding all the houses,” he said. “In a few minutes I couldn’t see anything, just smoke." “It began spreading towards that way, the wind was blowing that way towards the mountain,” said 88-year-old Antonio Carmo Pereira, while pointing to the flames on the outskirts of his village. In the village of Bemposta, residents used garden hoses to spray their lawns and roofs in hopes they could save them from the raging wall of red flames that approached through the wooden hills late Wednesday. BEMPOSTA, Portugal - More than 3,000 firefighters battled Thursday alongside ordinary Portuguese citizens desperate to save their homes from several wildfires that raged across the European country, fanned by extreme temperatures and drought conditions linked to climate change.Ĭentral Portugal has been particularly hard hit by a spate of blazes this week.