Commander Pedro Araújo, from the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), said that the combat operations in most of the incidents that were underway evolved favourably during the night, with no victims or houses burned down.
According to Pedro Araújo, at 06:40 there were nine active fires in the sub-regions of Alto Tâmega and Barroso, in the Porto Metropolitan Area, in the Aveiro region, in the Tâmega e Sousa sub-region and in Viseu Dão Lafões.
“We still have fires of some severity in the municipalities of Castro Daire and Arouca. These are still very active fires that justify a significant number of resources, with the municipality of Castro Daire, in the sub-region of Viseu Dão Lafões, having 550 firefighters, supported by 178 vehicles, and in the municipality of Arouca, we have 234 firefighters, with 71 vehicles”, he added.
In the district of Aveiro, according to the source, the fire that started in Pessegueiro do Vouga, in the municipality of Sever do Vouga, mobilized 497 firefighters at that time, with the support of 143 land resources.
Meanwhile, at 7:20 am today, according to information available on the ANEPC website, the two fires that started on Sunday in the municipality of Sever do Vouga were still being extinguished, with the fire in Pessegueiro do Vouga still having 555 firefighters and 167 vehicles on the ground.
“We had some pressure on buildings and homes in the municipalities of Castro Daire and Arouca. The fire was close to homes, which led firefighters to protect those homes, but we are not aware of any homes burning down during the night or of any casualties among the local population,” he said.
According to the ANEPC commander, the weather conditions are likely to be less severe today due to the decrease in wind intensity and the increase in relative humidity, which is favourable for fighting the flames.
“We hope that a significant part of these fires will be brought under control today,” he stressed.
According to information available on the ANEPC website, at 7:30 a.m., the fire in Penalva do Castelo (Viseu district) that broke out at around midnight on Monday was still burning, requiring 317 firefighters, supported by 81 vehicles.
The fire registered in Nelas, in the same district, was also being fought by 140 firefighters, supported by 37 land vehicles, since 11:53 a.m. on Monday.
There were also active fires in Amarante and Santo Tirso (Porto district) and Vila Pouca de Aguiar and Alijó (Vila Real).
In Albergaria-a-Velha (Aveiro), the fire that broke out at 7:20 a.m. on Monday required 120 firefighters, supported by 37 vehicles, to be extinguished.
The firefighting efforts to combat the fire that broke out on Sunday at 3:00 pm in the municipality of Oliveira de Azeméis, in the district of Aveiro, involved 359 personnel, supported by 125 vehicles.
Seven people died and around 120 were injured in the fires that have been raging since Sunday, mainly in the northern and central regions of the country, in the districts of Aveiro, Porto, Vila Real, Braga, Viseu and Coimbra, and which have destroyed dozens of houses and forced the closure of roads and motorways.
At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, ANEPC had recorded 34 active fires, of which 18 were of a “significant” size and required additional resources. 2,434 personnel were involved in fighting these 18 fires, supported by 734 land resources and 23 air resources.
The Government has declared a state of emergency in all municipalities affected by the fires in recent days.