“The situation remains extremely concerning,” stated Paulo Almeida at 10:00 AM, noting that in the municipality, which covers 380 square kilometers, approximately 30,000 hectares have burned, with “about 12 active fire fronts at various points in the municipality.”
The mayor warned that “these 30,000 hectares of burned area could reignite at any moment,” explaining that “this is what has been happening.”
“Weather conditions have improved a bit, which is also helpful. We also received reinforcements during the night, more personnel, we have aerial resources that were ready to intervene but couldn’t due to safety concerns (…), given the level of smoke in the air,” he added.
The mayor of Castro Daire urged the population to remain vigilant, but always with “maximum safety,” emphasizing that the work being done is “precisely to save lives and protect primary residences.”
Paulo Almeida reported that on the first night of the fire, which started on Monday, there were four injuries, and last night a firefighter was injured, apparently with minor injuries.
Regarding damages, he listed “primary residences, sheds, annexes, storage buildings, cars, machinery, agricultural operations,” noting that “many things have been affected, many things have been hit,” though unable to quantify at this time.
“We know the situation is very dramatic in this aspect as well, and after all this work to extinguish the fire, significant help will be needed to assist families and help our community regain minimum conditions for a dignified life,” warned Paulo Almeida.
According to the mayor, many families “ended up losing everything, their livelihoods.”
“We cannot quantify it, but the post-fire situation is also extremely concerning,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Spanish reinforcements that were planned for the Sabroso de Aguiar fire in Vila Pouca de Aguiar have been mobilized to Castro Daire, said the sub-regional commander of Civil Protection for Alto Tâmega.
Artur Mota said this morning that 120 personnel from the Spanish Military Emergency Unit were expected to reinforce the firefighting efforts in Vila Pouca de Aguiar, but due to a worsening situation in Castro Daire, they were redirected to that fire in the Viseu district.
According to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority website, the fire that broke out at 9:23 PM on Monday in a bush area in Castro Daire was, as of 11:20 AM, being fought by 424 operatives, supported by 129 vehicles and 12 aerial resources.
Seven people have died and about 120 have been injured in the fires that have been affecting mainly the North and Central regions of the country since Sunday, in the districts of Aveiro, Porto, Vila Real, Braga, Viseu, and Coimbra, destroying dozens of houses and forcing road and highway closures.
The burned area in mainland Portugal since Sunday exceeds 106,000 hectares, according to the European Copernicus system, which shows that nearly 76,000 hectares have burned in the North and Central regions.
The Government has declared a state of calamity in all municipalities affected by the fires in recent days.
