Fire now at “very critical stage”
Mayor of Ponte da Barca has asked the government to mobilise heavy air resources to combat the fire that broke out on Saturday in the Peneda-Gerês National Park and which is now at a ‘very critical’ stage.
According to Augusto Marinho, at 3:30 pm only two air resources had been mobilised to fight this fire.
“More than ground resources, air resources are essential. That is my request. We have two Kamov helicopters in operation. I understand that two more light helicopters will be sent. We need more heavy air resources. The situation is very critical,” he told Lusa news agency, adding that the ‘theatre of operations is very complicated’ with a fire that is “difficult to manage”.
The comments give a different impression to the press conference given earlier today in Oeiras, very possibly because of the way winds are affecting firefighting.
