Italy And Spain Join Greece In Supplying Planes To Fight Fires In Portugal
Spain and Italy joined Greece in sending planes to help douse the flames, Home Affairs Minister Daniel Sanches said.
Eighty people had to be evacuated from the Monchique spa complex in the southern Algarve after a blaze thought to be under control erupted again.
The Agriculture Ministry said the Monchique fire destroyed two houses and 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of eucalyptus and cork tree forest.
Despite the damage, only one woman and two firefighters have so far been injured. All were treated for burns.
Firefighters have curtailed the blazes only to see them rekindle when winds pick up.
``Last night the fire arrived and everything burned. The firefighters were able to save my house, but all our land outside is charred and black,'' said Maria Amelia Varela da Silva, 60, who lives about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Monchique mountain area where the conflagration is strongest.
Flames soared skyward to a height of a four-story building Tuesday morning, said a 62-year-old neighbor, who stayed in her car ready to leave in case the fire came too close.
Temperatures passed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) when the largest fire cut the A22 Via do Infante highway near Tavira.
Sanches said there were four times as many fires in Portugal this July compared to last year. Eight large fires were burning after firefighters struggled to contain more than 20 outbreaks a day earlier.
Spain was expected to send a Canadair water-dropping plane to the southern Algarve areas of Alcoutim and Castro Marim, where the fire has already consumed 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and agricultural land, the Agriculture Ministry said.
There was no word on the destination of the Italian aircraft.
Responding to Portugal's request for help Monday, Greece sent two planes to the Beja air base in the southern Alentejo region.
Portugal's air force deployed a Cessna airplane while the army planned to double to 500 the number of soldiers assigned to help extinguish the fires.
A massive fire in the Arrabida Natural Park, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Lisbon, was mostly under control Tuesday.
But Portugal's League for Nature Protection described the devastation at the park, where 700 hectares (1,700 acres) of land have been scorched, as ``an irreparable loss for biodiversity and nature.''
Another large fire, in the Santarem area of Torres Novas, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Lisbon, destroyed close to 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of agricultural land, mainly olive groves, and 170 hectares (420 acres) of forest in the Serra d'Aires Natural Park.
Weather forecasts projected temperatures will top 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) through Thursday.
In 2003, fires in Portugal claimed 18 lives and destroyed a record 424,000 hectares (1,047,727 acres) of forest and bush, about five percent of the country's surface terrain.
Related: