Portugal battles wildfires over the weekend due to high temperatures

Portugal on Sunday faced large-scale wildfires due to a sharp increase in temperatures over the weekend.

A fire broke out in the Mafra area, about 40 kilometers north of Lisbon, and about 400 firefighters were sent to the area.

According to television images, residents tried to stop the fire from spreading by spraying water on their gardens with hoses as the fire engulfed nearby forests.

The nursing home, which housed 30 people, was evacuated as a precautionary measure, Paulo Santos, commander of the Civil Defense Directorate, told radio station Renascenca.

In addition, other large fires were recorded in the north and in the central part of the city. Portugalwhere more than 1,000 firefighters were mobilized.

In the central city of Ouren, the river bank was also evacuated as a precaution, and two people suffered from smoke inhalation, according to an emergency services official quoted by Lusa.

Warning before temperature increase

Over the weekend, a high alert regime was announced in the central and northern regions of the region. Portugal ahead of a “high temperature rise” to more than 40 degrees Celsius, expected until at least Tuesday, according to the meteorological institute.

PortugalStill reeling from the deaths of hundreds of people in the deadly fires of 2017, it was hit by a series of heat-driven fires in early July.

According to preliminary data from the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), more than 58,000 hectares have turned to ash since the beginning of the year.

new wave of heat

Meanwhile, the south-east of France was also affected by new fires this Sunday: 200 hectares were burned in the Gard department, where a firefighter was seriously injured on the eve of a new wave of heat.

South of the city of Nimes, a fire destroyed 200 hectares of pine trees. In Marseille, France’s second-largest city, the fire, declared in the late afternoon, has spread to 35 hectares, according to the Department of Fire and Relief (Sdis).

(According to AFP)

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