Portugal enters state of alarm over extreme wildfire risk

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Portugal entered into a state of alarm on Monday as the risk of wildfires is set to continue intensifying this week.

This is the first time the government has activated the emergency measure, which hasn’t been used since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, for wildfires.

The state of alarm limits access to forested areas and certain labor in rural areas that could provoke fires. Individuals will also be prohibited from using fireworks or lighting outdoor fires, among other restrictions.

The risk of wildfires this week is the highest in the last 42 years, climatologist Carlos da Camara told the Portuguese daily Jornal de Noticias.

Temperatures have been abnormally hot across continental Portugal since Thursday and major forest fires burned over the weekend.

By Monday, firefighters said they had tamed the most worrying fires, including one near the city of Ourém, which burned more than 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres). Authorities say 44 people were injured in the fire — 37 emergency service agents and seven civilians.

Police have detained a man suspected of having started that fire.

Despite the initial success in controlling the fires, the wildfire risk will only worsen as the week goes by amid hot and dry conditions.

The Portuguese meteorology service IPMA predicts that on Thursday the temperatures will hit 48 degrees Celcius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the municipality of Coruche, which is an hour’s drive from Lisbon. That would make for the hottest temperature ever recorded in the country, where the record is currently 47.3 degrees Celcius (117.1 degrees Fahrenheit).

On Monday, Prime Minister Antonio Costa appealed for caution amid the extremely dry and hot conditions.

“Today, Portugal is more prepared from a structural point of view (to fight fires), but this in no way diminishes personal responsibility. The country can have all the means in the world, but with these weather conditions, extreme temperatures, after a year of extreme drought, any carelessness can immediately trigger a huge fire,” he told journalists in Coimbra.

Since the deadliest wildfires in modern history shook Portugal in 2017, its government says its ability to fight fires has greatly improved. On Sunday, Portugal also asked for emergency EU assistance and two aircraft were sent from Spain to help extinguish the blazes.

In June 2017, at least 66 people died nationwide in wildfires, most of whom were trapped in their cars on highways.