According to the Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command of the Porto Metropolitan Area, which did not provide predictions regarding the evolution of the fire, as of 11:30 AM, 164 ground vehicles and seven aerial resources are involved in combating the three active fronts and various identified risk points. At least two of the aerial resources are currently in action, with the rest also assigned to the Albergaria-a-Velha fire.
At the operations command post, set up in the parish of Palmaz, officials refused to provide information about the ongoing operation.
The Mayor of Oliveira de Azeméis, Joaquim Jorge Ferreira, told Lusa that there are four reported injuries. “We have four firefighters with burn-related injuries, one of them in a condition requiring more care,” he revealed.
The Socialist mayor also informed that resources are being positioned in various residential areas of the municipality “so that they can act quickly in case the situation worsens.”
In the same context, the Municipal Emergency and Civil Protection Plan has been activated, which “in practice, allows all rescue resources in the region to be allocated to Oliveira de Azeméis for rapid and priority response.”
On National Road 224-3, between the city of Oliveira de Azeméis and Palmaz, there are several sections where people can be seen wearing masks, watering small strips of garden, and using hoses to wet the walls, roofs, and walls of their houses.
“Just now in Macinhata da Seixa, there was a man operating a tractor with a tank to wet the roofs of houses,” adds Joaquim Jorge Ferreira.
In Azeméis, in addition to a road closure due to proximity to the fire, namely the IC2 between Pinheiro da Bemposta and Branca, the fire has also prompted the transfer of 23 users from the Santo André Day Center in Macinhata da Seixa to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Oliveira, in the municipal seat.
“It was just a precaution because the nursing home is not threatened, but since everything can change quickly in these weather conditions, we thought it safer to act in anticipation,” explains the mayor.
Meanwhile, the city council has launched an appeal to the population to offer water and cereal bars to firefighters by delivering them to the António Costeira Municipal Pavilion. “Help with cereal bars and water so they can stay strong on the front lines,” says the municipality’s message.
The Vale de Cambra Firefighters have also requested support from the population to collect essential goods such as fruit, energy bars, water, non-carbonated juices, energy drinks, painkillers, and personal hygiene products, which should be delivered to the operational barracks in Lordelo.
