Hundreds of firefighters are on duty. Several of them have already been injured. The heat wave continues. / Wildfires in France and Portugal
Several forest fires have broken out again in France and Portugal. According to the fire brigade, four emergency services were injured in a fire in the south-eastern French department of Gard on Sunday, one of them seriously. The firefighter was taken to the hospital with burns. In Portugal, around 400 firefighters were deployed in a fire north of Lisbon.
The fire in south-east France destroyed around 350 hectares. “We are confident that we can contain the fire by tomorrow,” said fire department spokesman William Borelly on Sunday evening. South of Nîmes, the A9 motorway to Spain had to be partially closed due to heavy smoke. According to the Vinci motorway company, the route was passable again on Sunday evening.
Heat wave continues
According to the authorities, another fire that had spread to around 35 hectares was contained near Marseille in the evening. France faces another heat wave next week. 35 to 39 degrees are expected in the south of the country on Monday.
The heat wave is expected to peak on Wednesday with peaks of up to 40 degrees in the southwest. In mid-July, two massive forest fires destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of land in south-west France on the Atlantic coast.
The fire brigade was also on duty in Portugal due to several forest fires. A larger fire broke out near the small town of Mafra north of Lisbon on Sunday, according to the civil protection authority. Around 400 firefighters fought the flames there. A retirement home with 30 residents had been evacuated as a precaution, said Paulo Santos, spokesman for the civil protection authority, the radio station Renascença.
According to Helder Sousa Silva, the mayor of Mafras, the flames are largely under control. A total of around 300 hectares were destroyed. According to media reports, eight forest fires are still active throughout Portugal.
1000 firefighters on duty
More than a thousand firefighters were deployed to deal with other fires in the north and center of the country. Temperatures rose sharply in these regions over the weekend. A warning has been issued for part of northern and central Portugal due to temperatures exceeding 40 degrees.
According to Portuguese media reports, a fire near the city of Ourém, around 130 kilometers northeast of Lisbon, was brought under control in the morning.
According to the Portuguese Meteorological Institute, the heat will last until at least Tuesday. According to preliminary data from the nature conservation institute ICNF, more than 58,000 hectares of land have already gone up in flames in Portugal since the beginning of the year.
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