Almost 1500 Holidaymakers Evacuated From Campsite As ‘Three Active Fires’ Burn In Portugal

DESPITE wildfires raging across some rural areas of Portugal, it has been reported that for now, there are no roads cut to traffic. The country’s main A1 motorway was closed previously but has since been reopened.

André Fernandes, the National Commander of Emergency and Civil Protection gave an update on the situation during a briefing at 1:10 pm this Tuesday, August 8.

Speaking from the command centre that has been established in the Oeiras municipality of Carnaxide he assured that despite ‘three active fires’, circulation is currently normal on all roads throughout the territory, according to sicnoticias.pt.

Fernandes explained that there were ‘three significant occurrences, in Odemira, Cinfães and Mangualde’. Municipal emergency plans have been activated in Castelo Branco, Proença-a-Nova and Odemira he added.

‘At the moment, there is no fire that has cut roads, in particular main routes, and you can move freely in the country without any constraints related to rural fires’, said the national commander.

The fire in Odemira is causing the most concern

As for the active fires, the one that broke out on Saturday in São Teotónio, in the municipality of Odemira, is the one that continues to deserve the greatest attention from Civil Protection. The burned area already covers around 7,000 hectares, Fernandes detailed.

Two of the wildfires, in Cinfães and Mangualde, are burning in the same district of Viseu. In the district of Beja, the blaze that broke out in Odemira, in Portugal’s Alentejo region, is currently: ‘the one that deserves the greatest concern’, according to the commander.

‘The Odemira fire has already destroyed an area of ​​about 7,000 hectares’, he pointed out. This area contains: ‘extensive areas of pine forest and mixed crops such as eucalyptus, cork oaks, arbutus trees and bushes’, continued Fernandes. It is burning in what the commander considered to be ‘a difficult area’.

The São Miguel campsite was evacuated as a precaution

Following the fire, 20 villages and a campsite were evacuated. A total of 1,424 people were displaced, with the majority being preventively removed from the São Miguel campsite. They have since been allowed to return.

André Fernandes also underlined that the weather conditions in that area remain unfavourable, due to the heat and dry wind. The next 24 hours will be fundamental to prevent the fire from progressing to the Monchique mountain range, in the Algarve region he stressed.

No ‘state of emergency’ for the time being

There had been suggestions yesterday, Monday 7, from Patrícia Gaspar, the Secretary of State for Civil Protection, that a state of emergency could be declared by the government. That possibility was dispelled this morning by José Luís Carneiro, Portugal’s Minister of Internal Administration.

‘Either because of the response of the teams, or because of the number of fires, or because of the change that seems to be positive in the movement of winds – and also because there has been, from yesterday to today, a relative replacement of nocturnal humidity, for now, the alert situation will not be ordered’, he stated, as reported by portugalresident.com.