Fires blaze out of control across Portugal

Wildfires fanned by high winds burned out of control across Portugal today as the country suffered its worst drought in years.

Firefighters said flames surrounding Coimbra, north of Lisbon, had reached some parts of the city of more than 100,000 people and the mayor said the blaze to the south was moving quickly.

Seven planes were dumping water on the fires, he said.

Civil protection workers stood by in case residents had to be evacuated.

The Portuguese government, no longer able to cope with the more than 25 fires burning through forest and farmland, called on the European Union for help over the weekend.

France sent two Canadair firefighting planes to Portugal yesterday, and Spain sent one, while three helicopters from Germany and another Canadair from Italy were due to start firefighting operations tomorrow. The Dutch air force was contributing two Cougar helicopters, each capable of carrying 2,500 litres of water. The Azores firefighting department also offered to send in men to the mainland.

“I welcome the speed with which the commission and member states have been able to respond to the urgent request for help,” said commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who was in Portugal and following the situation closely.

The largest number of fires burned in the northern districts of Viseu and Viana do Castelo.

Further south, Coimbra, the country’s third-largest city, was surrounded by fires moving on two fronts, firefighters said.

Flames and smoke could be seen from parts of the city, about 120 miles north of Lisbon, and the fire had already entered a number of boroughs, they said.

Flames had destroyed more than 10 houses on the outskirts of the city, and 50 people in that area fled their homes, firefighters said.

“There are two fronts now, one north and the other south of the city,” said Coimbra’s mayor, Carlos Encarnacao.

“The southern one is the worst. The fire moved very quickly during the night and it is unpredictable at this point,” he added. He said that although several aeroplanes were fighting flames in that area, more aircraft were necessary.

Encarnacao also asked that people send in blankets, mattresses and beds to help those dislodged.

Traffic had also been suspended on two secondary roads, Coimbra district’s governor Henrique Fernandes said.

Another large fire was burning in Abrantes in the district of Santarem, 50 miles north of Lisbon, where 200 firefighters were battling the flames on five fronts.

Some 2,000 firefighters, supported by 795 firetrucks and 31 aeroplanes and helicopters were fighting the flames countrywide. The armed forces had also sent 600 men to monitor areas where fires had been extinguished.

Strong winds rekindled several fires during the weekend. More winds and high temperatures were forecast for the coming days. On Monday temperatures were expected to reach highs of 36 degrees Celsius (96 degrees Fahrenheit) in some districts, including Santarem.

Temperatures were expected to start dropping on Wednesday, and there was chance of mild rain, weather forecasts said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Jose Socrates visited the Pampilhosa da Serra area of Coimbra district, where a large fire had been ablaze for five days last week about 53 miles east of Coimbra city.

The flames had been extinguished mid-week but flared up again Friday before being brought under control today.

“Right now all we can do is fight the fires, but we’ve got a lot of work to do afterwards because there are structural causes for fires in Portugal,” he said. “The country cannot surrender to the notion that we have to go through this every year.”

Portugal’s summer wildfires have so far burned through 345,940 acres, alrady more than the total area burned last year, officials said.

Last year’s fires burned 320,370 acres and in 2003 – the worst for wildfires in the last two decades – the blazes burned 1 million acres.