A new fire has broken out, early this morning, in the Serra do Alvão. It quickly developed four fronts that at midday today were burning “with some intensity,” according to Ribeira de Pena fire chief António Martins.
Martins has explained that this morning there were three different ignitions between Favais and Alvadia, in the northern part of the serra (hillside), within the municipality of Ribeira de Pena, Vila Real district.
The fire causing the most concern broke out at 7:30 am.
“The head of the fire has no access whatsoever and will have to be fought with aerial resources,” adds Martins.
According to the ANEPC (National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority), at noon eight aircraft had been mobilised for this fire, alng with over 138 firefighters and sundry appliances.
“It’s going to be a difficult fight due to the lack of access for heavy vehicles. We’ll be relying heavily on air support,” Martins added.
Serra do Alvão straddles the municipalities of Vila Pouca de Aguiar, Ribeira de Pena, Vila Real and Mondim de Basto. In the latter two municipalities a fire that broke out on Saturday burned around 3,000 hectares and was only considered dominated on Wednesday.
Yesterday, another fire consumed around 500 hectares of the serra, in the village of Pinduradouro, Vila Pouca de Aguiar municipality, in an area very close to Alvadia.
Whether these incidents are ‘connected’ and the source ‘criminal’ has yet to be determined.
Source: LUSA
