Portugal: Villagers Trapped by Raging Wildfires
Two separate wildfires in Portugal have cut off an entire village in the centre of the country. Firefighters have been trying to control the blazes and reach the estimated 2 000 people trapped in the Macao village.
The fire first broke out in Macao village on Tuesday evening, and continued to grow through Wednesday. By Thursday, the entire village was surrounded by flames and thick smoke.
“It’s impossible to leave or to enter Macao because of the flames and the smoke,” the mayor, Vasco Estrela, told reporters.
This is not the first time Macao has been hit by fire this year. According to Estrela, by the end of July, fires had already destroyed 80-90% of the village. During fires this last month, emergency services have evacuated around 130 people from nearby villages.
Authorities also say that 92 people have been injured by the fires, seven of them in a serious condition.
The extremely hot weather in the country has severely contributed to the outbreak of fire. With another heat wave expected in the coming week, the government has declared a state of emergency in some northern and central regions of the country.
This season of wildfires has been the deadliest in Portugal’s history.
In mid-June, several wildfires broke out in central Portugal, close to Pedrógão Grande. The flames spread rapidly, leaving dozens of people trapped and surrounded by flames and smoke. Many of them died in their cars as they were trying to flee the flames.
The Portuguese government has said that the June fires killed 64 people and injured more than 250.
In total, firefighters in the country have had to battle more than 10 000 fires this year, in comparison to last year when firefighters battled around 7 500 fires in the same period.
Portugal has also enlisted the help of its international neighbours. Spain has sent more than 120 firefighters to the country, along with 27 fire engines and 3 firefighting airplanes.
Image credit: Firefighters battle fires in Portugal (2017) [online image] sourced on 18 August 2017 at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9520718/Forest-fires-in-Portugal.html
