2023-08-08 20:28:12
Odemira: 1,400 people were evacuated yesterday following a forest fire broke out in southern Portugal. Officials said hundreds of firemen will be deployed to douse the fire. More than 800 firefighters and six water-bombing planes are currently working to put out the forest fire. Meanwhile, Jose Ribeiro, commander of the Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, said the weather was expected to remain challenging.
The sky in Odemira turned dark yesterday and a huge cloud of smoke filled the air. Odemira’s mayor, Helder Guerreiro, described the situation as “critical, difficult and complex”. Ribeiro, meanwhile, said there was “a lot of work” ahead to bring the wildfires under control. This is a worrying situation, she added.
At the same time, scientists say that climate change is causing heat waves to become more frequent and intense, spreading across seasons.
Three districts in the north of Portugal were on red alert yesterday as temperatures were expected to reach 41 Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) in the northern city of Castelo Branco. In the Alentejo, thermometers should reach 40C in Evora and 38C in Beja.
Authorities have declared more than 120 municipalities at maximum risk of wildfires across Portugal, including Lisbon, Alentejo and the Algarve.
“The weather we’re going to experience in the coming days means any small incident (fire) can turn into a big one,” State Civil Protection Secretary Patricia Gasper told a news conference.
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