Deadly wildfires in central and northern Portugal have exhausted emergency services, with Spanish and Moroccan reinforcements arriving on Wednesday to help, the civil protection authority announced. - REUTERS
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00:00Deadly wildfires ravaging Portugal have pushed emergency services to the limit.
00:08Desperately needed reinforcements will arrive from Spain and Morocco on Wednesday,
00:13the Civil Protection Authority said.
00:16Several people have died in the fires, with dozens of houses destroyed
00:20and tens of thousands of acres of land and forest consumed.
00:26Portuguese politician and climate expert Duarte Costa
00:30told local media that 230 Spanish military personnel
00:34would be deployed in the central Viseu district,
00:37an area of quote great concern,
00:40with the reinforcements allowing for exhausted local firefighters
00:44to be rotated out and for aircraft maintenance.
00:48Morocco is sending up to four heavy water-bombing aircraft
00:52that should also arrive in Portugal on Wednesday, he added.
00:55Spain, Italy and France have already sent two of these aircraft each.
01:01Over 5,000 Portuguese firefighters have been mobilised and are working tirelessly,
01:06with people like Cristina Almeida offering support.
01:11We are trying to help the firefighters.
01:13We know they are very tired.
01:15As they don't have access to food and water,
01:18we are trying to help and it's our way of thanking them.
01:23The government has declared a state of calamity in all municipalities
01:27affected by the wildfires,
01:29allowing civil protection agents to access private property.
01:33Meteorologist Jorge Ponte told Reuters on Monday
01:37why the wildfires were so dangerous this time.
01:40We have very low humidities, high temperatures, even near the sea.
01:44That's the big difference.
01:47And, of course, the wind is strong, especially in the mountains,
01:51and this is a build-up, of course, of many situations,
01:55various parameters that combine together
01:58and create a cocktail of dangerous conditions.
02:05Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said a government team
02:08would coordinate the provision of, quote,
02:10the most immediate and urgent support
02:13to those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
02:16He said that some fires across Portugal have been caused by arsonists,
02:20prompted by possible commercial interest,
02:23spite or criminal negligence.
02:25Portugal's National Guard said it had arrested seven people since Saturday,
02:29suspected of arson.