``We have asked the European Union for assistance, and Greece is sending in two planes (Tuesday) to help fight the flames,'' said Paiva Monteiro, head of the Civil Protection and National Firefighters Service.
The service said the fire count across the country is four times the number year ago. There are blazes in 14 of 18 districts in Portugal, where temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and strong dry winds have fueled flames.
Firefighters were contending with a fire in the Arrabida Natural Park, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Lisbon, that they had momentarily extinguished in the morning. The fire destroyed over 900 hectares (2,225 acres) of wilderness of Sunday, but no injuries were reported.
Several beaches in the area had to be evacuated Sunday and remained closed to the public Monday.
Elsewhere Monday, firefighters had brought another large fire under control in the southern Algarve region of Monchique.
Some 1,400 people were involved in fighting eight other fires still burning in the districts of Castelo Branco, Mafra, Santarem and Vila Real, north of Lisbon, and in southern Faro and Monchique.
Six houses were razed in the Monchique fire, but authorities were unable to say how many hectares (acres) of forest were burnt. The blaze was brought under control but not yet put out, the firefighters service said.
Four houses were destroyed in another large fire in the Torres Novas area of Santarem, 60 kilometers north of Lisbon, which was put out Monday.
There were no reports of injuries in any of the fires.
In 2003, fires in Portugal claimed 18 lives and destroyed a record number of 336,000 hectares (820,000 acres) of forest and bush.
Weather forecasts say temperatures will remain high at least until Thursday.
