MADRID, 18 (EUROPA PRESS)
Portugal woke up Monday to five active forest fires and is monitoring with particular concern the blaze that continues to ravage the Covillana area in the Castelo Branco district, where more than a thousand firefighters are working on the ground.
The government of Luis Montenegro announced on Sunday night an additional 48-hour extension of the general alert status, given that the wave of fires that began in early August continues unabated.
More than 80 municipalities in the northern, central, and southern Algarve regions remain at maximum risk, and firefighting services are working against the clock to contain an emergency that has burned tens of thousands of hectares in a matter of days. Since the beginning of the year, more than 185,000 hectares have already burned, more than in all of 2024.
An official from the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANPEC), Miguel Oliveira, has indicated that the Covillana fire is the one with the largest number of resources mobilized, with approximately 1,100 personnel and almost 370 ground resources, according to the Lusa news agency. The City Council issued a new alert to the local population on Monday, warning that the fire remains "out of control."
Adding to the devastation caused by the wildfires in the Portuguese mountains in recent hours is the death of a firefighter who was on his way to fight a blaze on Sunday. The vehicle they were traveling in plunged into a ravine, leaving four others injured, one of them seriously.
