Today’s scorching weather has been accompanied by yet another wildfire breaking out in the north, this time near Sandomil, in the municipality of Seia (Guarda district), which only last month suffered through “the largest fire ever known in Portugal”.
Hundreds of firefighters have been dispatched. Aircraft went rapidly from 10 to 14 as all efforts are underway to contain this blaze from reaching any larger proportions.
It is already active on at least two fronts, and described by people sharing images over social media as “gigantic”, with “lots of projections”, causing new blazes in different areas.
The alert went out mid-morning. Complicating matters is a strong wind, a source from Beiras and Serra da Estrela Civil Protection has told Lusa.
Firewatch website fogos.pt put the number of aircraft trying to put out flames at 16 by 4.20pm today, and the number of firefighters at 481 (backed by 139 appliances). By the end of the afternoon, the number of firefighters involved had increased to 600.
The local national road (EN) 17 has been closed, in both directions, due to the fire’s trajectory. Advice to anyone on the roads around Sandomil/ Seia is to stay alert, as other roads may come to be affected, and drivers need to get out of harm’s way.
One positive is that rain is forecast for almost the entire mainland territory tomorrow. Also, at this point, no villages or properties appear to be at risk: the fire is described as “in a forested area”. (UPDATE: this however appeared to hve changed by the end of the day as television reports described “homeowners in panic, helping firefighters every way they can to stop this fire destroying the work of a lifetime…”)
CNN Portugal reports that police have arrested a Brazilian man, suspected of having started this fire “after an argument with a neighbour”.
Updates to come…
