The fire that has been raging across Pedrógão Grande is affecting the neighbouring Góis area where 27 villages were told today to prepare for immediate evacuation.
Góis borders on Pedrógão Grande and Castanheira de Pêra where over 60 people were killed at the weekend, many dying in their vehicles as flames swept over the road as they tried to escape.
The Municipal Emergency Plan for Góis was activated at 2:00 pm due to the fire that already has killed 63 people and injured over 130 since is started on Saturday after a bolt of lightning struck a tree.
The Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, Jorge Gomes, said these small villages have been evacuated, "At this moment what matters is the protection of people and that is what we are working on."
The fire has been burning since Saturday and has spread into the Góis area with the flames reported as uncontrollable due to rocketing temperatures and frequent changes in the wind direction.
Reinforcements are expected in the next few hours to join the 743 firefighters already fully engaged. Some 256 additonal firefighters, many from the Algarve and 80 of them from Spain, will join operations. Jorge Gomes said that measures are already being taken so that the fire does not enter the municipality of Lousã, seen as a key defensive objective.
There also are 12 army platoons on firefighting duties: four in Vila Real, four in Pedrógão and four in Góis, according to the Defence Minister.
In Pedrógão, the worst hit area on Sunday and Monday, the minister of Home Affairs said that the ‘hot spot’ of this fire is still not dominated.
The situation in the Góis area remains critical with a Canadair water bombing aeroplane on loan from Morocco en route. The Algarve is not immune with a fire today in Monchique needing 89 firefighters and aerial support. This fire started at around 1pm on Tuesday in Tojeiro, Marmelete, and was extinguished by 2.00pm.
The scene in Góis is ever-changing with an unpredictable enemy changing ferocity and direction seemingly at will. The number of firefighters on duty is unprecedented and the on-site support from politicians and civil defence personnel a credit.
Swathes of Portugal are ablaze with the number of fires doubling to 24 in the two and a half hours between 09:30 and 12:15 this morning.
Fighting this number of outbreaks is involving 2,467 firefighters, 808 vehicles and 20 aircraft, according to the Civil Protection agency.
Parliamentary leader, Ferro Rodrigues, announced that a minute's silence will be observed on Wednesday at 1pm with all parliamentary debates scheduled for this week being shunted into September.
Parliamentary time tomorrow will be taken up with a session in which MPs have been asked to demonstrate solidarity for the devastated communities and loss of life.
The fires eventually will be extinguished and it is hoped that by evacuating people over a wide area, loss of life can be avoided in and around Góis, Pedrógão Grande and Castanheira de Pêra.
The inevitable aftermath will throw up questions about the domination of eucalyptus plantations in Portugal’s countryside, the planting of trees right up to road verges, and of course the Kamov helicopter purchases and the resulting cost of contracting in aerial firefighting support.
The Air Force already has pointed out that it would be best placed to provide national firefighting coverage from the air at less than the cost of buying in help when help is needed.
Until the fire is over, it is expected that few will dare start to score political points as ministers and the President of the Republic have shown themselves genuinely shaken by the horrific events and loss of life.
Canadair reported as downed
Mystery surrounds the alleged loss of a Canadair water-bombing aeroplane which was reported to have crashed in the Ouzenda area as it helped in the Pedrógão Grande fire. Ground crews have found no wreckage and the report may be a hoax.
The Secretary of State for Internal Administration, Jorge Gomes, said he had no official knowledge of any accident involving an airplane.
The explosion of a farm fuel tank may have been mistaken for the sound of an earoplane coming down.
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