Locals survey destruction wreaked by Portugal wildfires

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00:00A desolate landscape in this Portuguese town, where a wildfire has left vehicles completely

00:06burnt out.

00:09Similar scenes further north, here in the village of Maceira.

00:13Residents have been left reeling.

00:18It was horrific, horrible.

00:20The fire passed by very quickly because of the wind.

00:23But it was really bad.

00:25I don't think the government can help everyone, but we would appreciate some aid.

00:35We don't have many sheep, I only have 10 or 11, but we have to feed them.

00:39And now they don't have anything to eat because there's nothing on the mountain.

00:48Firefighters have managed to quell blazes in the Avairo district, one of the hardest

00:52hit areas, but they're still tackling flames elsewhere in the country.

00:57More than 5,000 have been mobilised and waterbombing aircraft have been supplied by Morocco, Italy,

01:03France and Spain, which has also sent a 270-strong Spanish military emergencies team.

01:09Several deaths have been reported and, according to the European Forest Fire Information Service,

01:15since Saturday, the flames have burned more than 105,000 hectares, the largest area burned

01:20since the country's 2017 wildfires.

01:24Experts warned that residents' health could also be impacted.

01:28In terms of the local population or the people who are immediately in the zone of where these

01:33fires are burning, you can see increases in PM2.5, which is a key air pollutant, but then

01:39is this wide range of very toxic and carcinogenic and harmful chemicals, which have impacts

01:46on human health that are released from the fires.

01:51According to authorities, at least some of the blazes were started by arsonists, and

01:55law enforcement have arrested more than a dozen suspects.

01:59Scientists have warned that human-caused climate change is exacerbating extreme weather across

02:04the world, including wildfires.

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