Over 1,000 firefighters confront wildfires in Portugal amid sweltering heatwave

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• Amid a summer heatwave, more than 1,000 firefighters are engaged in a relentless struggle against a series of wildfires in Portugal and neighboring Spain.
• Portugal is grappling with three significant fires, with the largest conflagration situated in the southwest near Odemira.
• The National Civil Protection Service reported the deployment of approximately 1,000 firefighters, 320 vehicles, and nine aircraft to tackle the southwest fire, which has already consumed about 17,300 acres.

More than 1,000 firefighters are battling a series of wildfires in Portugal as it and neighboring Spain experience several days of extreme summer heat, with temperatures in many areas rising above 104 F.

Three major fires raged in Portugal on Tuesday, with the biggest in the southwest near the town of Odemira, where on Monday about 1,400 people were evacuated from villages and a camp site as a precaution. They were gradually returning home on Tuesday.

The National Civil Protection Service said about 1,000 firefighters, 320 vehicles and nine aircraft were deployed at that fire on Tuesday. It has so far scorched around 17,300 acres.

The recent spate of wildfires came as temperatures have spiked. On Monday, the city of Santarem, about 50 miles northeast of the capital, Lisbon, set the year’s highest temperature at 115.5 F. Temperatures are forecast to fall nationwide from Tuesday, though they will mostly remain above 86 F.

Spain is faring better with its wildfires this week despite the high temperatures of the country’s third heat wave this summer.

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A worker pauses in the heat on a roof of a building in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul White)

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Officials said three fires that started over the weekend have been brought under control or had been extinguished Tuesday.

The biggest blaze, in the northeast, burned about 1,500 acres and required the evacuation of 150 people.

The only fire out of control in Spain is in the southwest near the Portuguese border. Some 20 people in two rural hostels were evacuated. Strong winds were reported to be complicating firefighting efforts.

Spain’s AEMET weather agency said temperatures will continue to rise at least until Friday, with some areas of the southern Andalusia region hitting 111 F.

A drought in Spain for the past two years has led to water restrictions in several parts of the country. Spain’s Ecological Transition Ministry said Tuesday that reservoirs nationally were at 41% of their capacity owing to high temperatures and the severe lack of rain.