The high alert status for most of Portugal is well deserved as over 1,200 firefighters battle 31 blazes this Sunday.
Sertã and Coimbra are the most serious affected with the A13 cut-off to traffic as 11 helicopters and aircraft swoop in to dump water. Temperatures hover in the mid-30s with winds spreading fires faster than they can be contained.
The Sertã and Coimbra fires are being fought by more than 600 firefighters and the largest affecting the mainland this Sunday.
At 17:10, the official website of Civil Protection service showed that there are 31 fires active in Portugal that are being tackled by 1,271 firefighters and 23 air assets.
The Sertã fire began in the early afternoon, in difficult and steep terrain with difficult accesses and stiff winds.
Reinforcements have been deployed from Lisbon, Portalegre and Santarém to help combat this fire that is consuming an area of forest that has grown back in a natural way after being destroyed in 2003.
According to the authorities, the fire has two active fronts and began at 1:47 p.m. near the São Tiago monastery, Várzea dos Cavaleiros.
The other serious fire is at Carvalhosas, in the district of Coimbra, where 300 firefighters with air support saw the A13 motorway cut off in the Almalaguês area.
