In a statement, the municipality reports that “authorities are managing the situation with all available resources: 215 personnel, 58 vehicles, and two aerial assets.”
In total, eight firefighters have been injured, six on Monday and two on Tuesday, with one in serious condition who remains hospitalized.
According to the available data, “there are no displaced persons or losses of primary residences.” However, there is damage to ancillary structures, storage facilities, and two workshops in Jovim.
Preventive evacuations were carried out in Covelo, Jancido (Foz do Sousa), and Branzelo (Melres).
Regarding road traffic in the municipality, the council states that “the A41 is closed between Medas and Aguiar de Sousa, and the A43 between Gondomar and A41. There are constraints on various streets in the municipality, which affect vehicular traffic.”
The statement adds that “the high risk of new fires remains until tomorrow, Thursday, the 19th, due to weather conditions, with strong winds that hinder firefighting efforts and increase the risk of reignition in already controlled areas.”
Early in the morning, in statements to journalists, the mayor, Marco Martins, appealed to authorities to provide more resources to combat the fire, stating that “there are no more firefighters to replace those who are exhausted on the ground.”
“The night was terrible, the populations were outstanding, and the firefighters were tireless, but it’s a day that begins dramatically,” especially in the southern area of the municipality, in Medas.
The mayor insisted on his appeal: “We need seven or eight planes. At the moment, we have two light aircraft to help those on the ground, and we also need relief for those in the field. The fire departments have no more firefighters to relieve. And they are desperate.”
Available data on the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) page indicate that, in total, including incidents in resolution and non-significant ones, as of 08:30, there were 5,226 personnel, about 1,622 ground vehicles, and 19 aerial assets deployed today.
Seven people have died and 40 were injured, two seriously, in the fires that have been affecting the North and Central regions of the country since Sunday, in the districts of Aveiro, Porto, Coimbra, Vila Real, and Viseu. These fires have destroyed dozens of houses and forced the closure of roads and highways, such as the A1, A24, A25, and A13.
The burned area in mainland Portugal since Sunday exceeds 62,000 hectares, according to the European Copernicus system, which shows that 47,376 hectares have already burned in the North and Central regions.
The Government has already declared a state of calamity in all municipalities affected by the fires in recent days.
