Portuguese forest fires flare anew as wind rises

By Axel Bugge

MIRANDA DO CORVO, Portugal (Reuters) – Portuguese forest
fires flared anew on Wednesday, defying hopes that cooler
weather would bring relief for one of the country’s worst
outbreaks of fires in decades.

Higher temperatures and rising winds reignited at least
three blazes stretching over 20 km (12 miles) near Miranda do
Corvo, a mountain town about 180 km (110 miles) north of the
capital Lisbon, local firefighters said.

Nationwide, seven small fires were out of control, the
national fire service said. Cooler foggy weather in the morning
helped damp down some fires, but rising winds later fanned the
embers into leaping flames.

“In the morning we were hopeful, the humidity was rising.
But now it’s really ugly. All of Portugal is in flames,” said
Paula Mendes Dias, a restaurant worker in the town of 7,000
people.

Worried residents in Aradas, a nearby hamlet, doused their
homes with hoses and buckets as a precaution against flames
which were advancing with a low roar like surf breaking on a
beach. Many residents had been evacuated overnight because of
thick ash in the air.

Water-bombing aircraft, including a German Super Puma
helicopter, roared overhead dumping water on the fire in thick
pine woods.

One Portuguese water-bombing plane crashed near Viseu,
about 60 km (40 miles) northeast of Coimbra, authorities said.
The cause of the crash was unknown and the pilot, a 27-year-old
Spaniard, suffered only scrapes.

Lusa news agency identified the plane as an Air Tractor.

HOPES RAISED

An overnight drop in temperature, thick morning fog and
lack of wind had raised hopes that the fires could be brought
under control, firefighters said.

Portugal is suffering its worst drought on record,
contributing to forest fires which have raged since May.

The National Forest Fire Authority estimates that more than
180,000 hectares (450,000 acres) of woodland have burned so far
this year, already the second highest annual figure since 1980.

Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Spain have sent
aircraft to help put out the fires in response to Portugal’s
weekend request to the European Union for help.

Although the fires have devastated vast areas of woodland,
damage to homes and businesses has been limited. When
firefighters cannot control a fire, they retreat to nearby
hamlets and put up walls of water to save property.

Joao Carmona said he and his nephews had fled his nearby
vacation home to take refuge at a Mirando do Corvo hotel.

“We came here (to the hotel) because of the children. It
was four in the afternoon and we were told they (firefighters)
were going to cut the road to our house,” the 54-year-old
Lisbon resident said.

The Agriculture Ministry has said losses from the fires are
not high enough for Portugal to draw on the European Union’s
Solidarity Fund, used in cases of natural disaster.