Seven new fires in Portugal

Cooler temperatures helped firefighters bring most of Portugal’s devastating wildfires under control today, although seven small new blazes broke out this afternoon.

Dozens of fires have destroyed swathes of forest and farmland over the past few weeks, killing 15 people and forcing hundreds to be evacuated from their homes.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters managed to extinguish four large blazes in the central and northern districts of Santarem, Viseu, Vila Real and Viana do Castelo this morning. But seven new fires broke out in the afternoon in the districts of Santarem, Vila Real, Braga, Leiria and Castelo Branco.

An earlier blaze in the Viluedo village of Vila Real was considered extinguished, as were the Castelo Branco fires, firefighters said.

Altogether, 954 firefighters, supported by 262 trucks, twelve firefighting planes and 600 troops were patolling the country to monitor the situation and ensure any new fires were quickly extinguished.

About 1,000 civil servants were given government approval to leave their jobs temporarily and go fight the blazes. The resolution was passed at meeting of the Council of Ministers this afternoon.

Despite the dip in temperatures, weather services forecast highs to reach 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) in some parts of the country.

Wildfires have killed 15 people in Portugal this year, 11 of them firefighters.

Firefighting crews from the Azores and Madeira flew to the mainland during the week to help quell the flames.

“It’s our turn to help after the mainland has helped us in the past with our earthquakes and such,” head firefighter Jose Gabriel told newspaper Jornal de Noticias.

In many districts, families that had been evacuated from their homes were returning to charred, devastated landscapes. Some had lost all their possessions.

“It’s all gone,” said one farmer on SIC TV, clutching his small son’s hand as he stood next to the remains of his barn containing dozens of sacks of stored cereal and all his agricultural machines.

Little or no rain has fallen on Portugal in the last 10 months, leaving the country in the grip of a severe drought that has helped fires to spread. At least 75% of the territory is suffering the most extreme level of drought on a four-stage scale, the Water Institute says.

Dry and yellow landscapes have replaced green pastures, leaving thousands of animals without food and forcing farmers to buy fodder and hay from abroad at high prices.

Although France has been selling hay to Portugal at reduced prices, farmers must meet the cost of transport and have complained the state has not offered them financial assistance in this matter.

Farmers in the southern districts of Alentejo were starting their grape harvest one month early to try to salvage whatever grapes were left after months of intense heat and dry weather. “I have done this for years and never in my life have I started harvesting in August,” an Alentejo farmer told SIC TV.

On Tuesday, the president of the National Authority for Forest Fires, Ferreira do Amaral, estimated that fires had burned through 445,000 acres so far, more than the total area burned last year – 320,370 acres.

In 2003 – the worst for wildfires in the last two decades – fire consumed one million acres.

The economic impact of the recent fires has not yet been evaluated.

Fire has burned through other parts of southern Europe in recent days. In Spain, also enduring its driest year since records were first kept in the 1940s, dozens of fires were burning in the north-west Galicia region and other areas.

In Italy, smaller fires were burning in Sicily and Puglia, Italian officials said.