“Between the 20th and the 25th of August, we are going to have very hot temperatures again and therefore, the appeal I make is that, once again, we try to avoid the use of fire, whether for domestic, agricultural, forestry use, or for the use of agricultural or forestry machinery”, José Luís Carneiro told journalists during a visit with the Minister of Defense to Serra do Montejunto, in the municipality of Cadaval, district of Lisbon.

The official warned that about two-thirds of the fires, this year were caused by negligence in the use of fire.

“We are talking about the use of fire, often for social gatherings, for domestic purposes, in particular burning of waste, cleaning that is carried out from the point of view of agricultural practice, forest cleaning or the use of agricultural and forestry machinery”, he clarified.

"In the first week of August there were 120 fires, that's a lot of fires, but we had years when the numbers were higher and this is also the result of the collective awareness of individual duties and collective duties, namely in the care with the use of fire, agricultural machines and forestry machines”, he said.