More than 300 firefighters are battling a blaze that broke out early Saturday morning in Garrocho, municipality of Covilhã, with the support of 94 vehicles and nine aircraft, according to Civil Protection. The fire has already spread to Manteigas in the Guarda area. Three firefighters received minor injuries.
A hotel in the Manteigas area had to be evacuated due to heavy smoke. Morning Post.
O CM was able to find out from the Castelo Branco District Command for Relief Operations, one of the firefighters had dizziness, another had a general malaise, and a third had slight burns to his legs.
The fire forced the cutting of the 338 national road connecting Piornos and Manteigas, as well as the evacuation of the inhabitants of Praia Fluvial de Verdelhos. A source from the Castelo Branco County Relief Operations Command (CDOS) told the Luz news agency at 4:45 p.m. that the fire had cut national road 338, which “connects the Piornos area to Manteigas”, and also forced an evacuation. Praia Fluvial de Verdelhos.
The fire, which broke out at 3:18 a.m. Saturday in a wooded area in the parish of Cantar Galo and Vila do Carvalho, originates in a mountainous area and “occurs right in the Serra da Estrela area. Array Central. “There are no houses in danger,” he added. CDOS Castelo Branco also added that the lack of access “conditions the fight [ao incêndio]”.
By 8:00 p.m., 522 operatives were on the ground, supported by 157 vehicles and seven aircraft, which should be removed as night approaches, according to the National Emergency Management and Civil Protection (ANEPC) official website.
Other fires in the country
In addition to this fire, firefighters are fighting two more fires that broke out this Sunday in the Porto area.
One of the fires broke out at 9:04 am in the town of Gilhuf, in the municipality of Penafiel, and is being extinguished by five operatives with the support of a vehicle, and another broke out at 9:00 am in the parish of Rio Tinto. , in the municipality of Gondomar, and fights two operatives supported by a vehicle.
According to information available on the Civil Protection website, a total of 444 operatives were on site at 9:30 a.m. fighting 24 fires, of which three are ongoing, three are under control and 18 are nearing completion. , supported by 127 ground and seven air assets.
According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), about 70 municipalities in the districts of Bragança, Vila Real, Guarda, Viseu, Castelo Branco and Coimbra are at maximum risk of rural fires this Sunday.
IPMA has also placed some 60 municipalities in the districts of Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Viseu, Coimbra, Leiria, Santarém, Portalegre and Faro at very high risk for rural fires.
Fire risk as defined by IPMA has five levels, from low to high, and calculations are made based on air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and rainfall over the past 24 hours.
Author: Alexander Salgueiro as well as Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
