Portugal firefighters stretched to limit in battle with wildfires

Bangkok Post Group

Deadly wildfires in central and northern Portugal have exhausted emergency services, with Spanish and Moroccan reinforcements arriving on Wednesday to help, the civil protection authority announced. - REUTERS

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00:00Deadly wildfires ravaging Portugal have pushed emergency services to the limit.

00:08Desperately needed reinforcements will arrive from Spain and Morocco on Wednesday,

00:13the Civil Protection Authority said.

00:16Several people have died in the fires, with dozens of houses destroyed

00:20and tens of thousands of acres of land and forest consumed.

00:26Portuguese politician and climate expert Duarte Costa

00:30told local media that 230 Spanish military personnel

00:34would be deployed in the central Viseu district,

00:37an area of quote great concern,

00:40with the reinforcements allowing for exhausted local firefighters

00:44to be rotated out and for aircraft maintenance.

00:48Morocco is sending up to four heavy water-bombing aircraft

00:52that should also arrive in Portugal on Wednesday, he added.

00:55Spain, Italy and France have already sent two of these aircraft each.

01:01Over 5,000 Portuguese firefighters have been mobilised and are working tirelessly,

01:06with people like Cristina Almeida offering support.

01:11We are trying to help the firefighters.

01:13We know they are very tired.

01:15As they don't have access to food and water,

01:18we are trying to help and it's our way of thanking them.

01:23The government has declared a state of calamity in all municipalities

01:27affected by the wildfires,

01:29allowing civil protection agents to access private property.

01:33Meteorologist Jorge Ponte told Reuters on Monday

01:37why the wildfires were so dangerous this time.

01:40We have very low humidities, high temperatures, even near the sea.

01:44That's the big difference.

01:47And, of course, the wind is strong, especially in the mountains,

01:51and this is a build-up, of course, of many situations,

01:55various parameters that combine together

01:58and create a cocktail of dangerous conditions.

02:05Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said a government team

02:08would coordinate the provision of, quote,

02:10the most immediate and urgent support

02:13to those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.

02:16He said that some fires across Portugal have been caused by arsonists,

02:20prompted by possible commercial interest,

02:23spite or criminal negligence.

02:25Portugal's National Guard said it had arrested seven people since Saturday,

02:29suspected of arson.

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