Greece announced that it will assist Portugal in battling the deadly wildfires burning in central and northern regions of the country since last week.
Athens is sending two Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft to Portugal, which departed for their mission early Tuesday morning.
At least two people have been killed as Portugal is placed on alert from Saturday to Tuesday evening because of high temperatures and strong winds.
The string of blazes that broke out over the weekend in the northern Aveiro region has injured 12 firefighters, including two seriously, and forced about 70 residents to flee, according to the country’s civil protection authority.
“The situation is not out of control, but it is very complex. Today will be a difficult day, and so will tomorrow,” said national civil protection commander Andre Fernandes.
Several houses caught ablaze in Albergaria-a-Velha, on Portugal’s west coast, after a fire started in the neighboring municipality of Sever do Vouga, a local authority source told Portuguese news agency Lusa
According to the town’s mayor, António Loureiro, one neighborhood has been evacuated and several others are expected to follow.
Four people have been injured, as authorities have cut off traffic to three major motorways including part of a main highway connecting the cities of Lisbon and Porto.
The municipality has issued a warning to the population to stay safe and canceled school classes on Monday.
All of mainland Portugal is currently on alert until Tuesday due to the risk of fire as several fires remain active including in the areas of Sever do Vouga and Oliveira de Azeméis.
Over 500 firefighters are battling the largest of the blazes, near Oliveira de Azemeis, south of Porto, according to local media on Sunday.
EU civil protection mechanism for Portugal wildfires activated
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday that Greece will provide assistance to Portugal in combating the wildfires that are raging across the country.
Earlier on Monday, Portugal had requested the activation of the EU civil protection mechanism.
“The EU stands with Portugal as it battles major wildfires. We are urgently mobilizing 8 firefighting planes via our Civil Protection Mechanism to help local first responders. I thank France, Greece, Italy and Spain for their rapid reaction. This is EU solidarity at its best,” stated von der Leyen in a post on X.
Under the Civil Protection Mechanism, the European Commission can provide assistance in the form of additional firefighters, water bombers and helicopters. It can also help by using satellite imagery from the Copernicus system — the Earth Observation component of the EU’s space program — to track fires on the ground.
