Portuguese firefighters have managed to contain approximately 80% of the perimeter of a major wildfire, which destroyed at least 130,000 stremmata of vegetation in the northern part of the country over three days, the Portuguese Civil Protection Agency announced today.

“The situation is developing favorably,” José Costa, an official with Portugal’s Civil Protection Agency, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“This is a very large area, because the fire has spread 35 km from its point of origin to its current location, and there are still some hot spots, but most of it has been brought under control,” he explained.

A large wildfire near Vouzela in central Portugal spread overnight across three municipalities, burning over 2,400 hectares, injuring six people and forcing village evacuations, with nearly 1,000 firefighters and eight aircraft deployed to tackle the blaze https://t.co/GzfxgDSGiq pic.twitter.com/v5KgKj9IPt

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With the assistance of more than 400 fire trucks, two firefighting aircraft, and four helicopters, approximately 1,200 firefighters are working to extinguish the fire that broke out early Thursday morning in the municipality of Vouzelá, in Viseu.

Portugal activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism on Friday to receive additional assistance. Spain dispatched a military detachment of about 100 personnel and a Canadair aircraft to the scene yesterday.

Italy has sent two more firefighting aircraft that are expected to join the operations starting today, according to the Portuguese civil protection agency.

Having been hit by a severe heat wave since Wednesday, Portugal has been facing the first major wildfires of the summer in recent days, with at least 9 people injured, including two civilians who are in serious condition.

Today, six regions in the central and southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula remain under a red alert due to high temperatures that could exceed 40 degrees Celsius.

Source: APE-MPE

*File photo