The forest wildfire that broke out in the early hours of Thursday, 2 July, in Vouzela, in Northern Portugal's Viseu district, and later spread into three neighbouring municipalities, has already scorched more than 7,000 hectares of woodland and scrub, according to European monitoring data.
Figures from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) show that the blaze, which ignited at around 3am on Thursday in Vouzela before advancing into the municipalities of Oliveira de Frades, Tondela (both in Viseu district) and Águeda (Aveiro district), had consumed 7,191 hectares by the start of Friday, 3 July. The fire was still spreading after more than 33 hours, with crews of firefighters continuing their desperate battle against the flames.
The burned area is equivalent to roughly 10,000 full-size football pitches, or a size far larger than the city proper of Porto.
Data reviewed by Portuguese news agency Lusa at midday, based on information gathered by the VIIRS and MODIS satellite sensors, indicate that the fire perimeter has already exceeded 50 kilometres. The blaze has expanded west and south-west towards Águeda through the forests around Préstimo, whilst also pushing south and south-east into the slopes of the Caramulo mountain range, in the municipality of Tondela.
Weather conditions remain highly challenging. Forecasts from the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) for the affected area indicated a temperature of 29.3°C and relative humidity of 25.6% at midday, according to data published on the Fogos.pt wildfire monitoring platform.
Temperatures were expected to climb steadily throughout the afternoon, peaking at 34.8°C at around 6pm, whilst relative humidity was forecast to plummet to just 13% by 7pm, conditions likely to favour further fire spread.
IPMA also reported average wind speeds of around 18km/h at midday, with gusts reaching up to 43km/h. Although winds were expected to ease during the afternoon, they were forecast to strengthen again from 9pm onwards.
As of 12.40pm on Friday, 955 firefighters and other emergency personnel were deployed to the scene, supported by 308 vehicles and nine aircraft as efforts to contain the wildfire continued.
Moreover, two villages in the municipality of Tondela have been evacuated, with a local fire commander warning that the blaze is "out of control".
One village was evacuated overnight, whilst a second was being cleared on Friday morning, revealed Miguel Santos, commander of the Vale de Besteiros Fire Brigade. "We are defending the villages with the resources allocated to them, but there simply aren't enough crews. Some villages have no firefighting resources at all," he added.
Santos, whose brigade operates a station in São João do Monte, which he described as "one of the parishes most exposed" to the advancing fire front, said that Matadagas was evacuated overnight, with the evacuation of Mansores under way by 11.45am on Friday.
Residents are being taken to the parish headquarters in São João do Monte, an area that remains surrounded by forest.
"Everywhere you look is green. The only difference is the type of trees, oak, eucalyptus, or pine," he said. "The entire hillside is at risk because this flank covers the northern face of the Caramulo mountains and the fire is not under control. We're dealing with a fire front of around 15 kilometres, with only eight firefighting vehicles."
Santos said additional resources had been requested. At the time of his interview, only a coordination helicopter was overhead rather than a water-bombing aircraft.
"Our hope now is that more aerial firefighting resources arrive," he said.
Earlier, Tondela mayor Carla Antunes Borges told journalists that the overnight evacuation of Matadagas involved three elderly residents, one child, and two dogs.
Source: LUSA
Photo credit: LUSA
