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00:00As flames lash houses and consume surrounding vegetation,
00:04residents are trying to control the fires with the tools they have on hand.
00:09Here in São Pedro do Sul, a local farmer wields a hosepipe
00:13to protect his property and livestock from the inferno.
00:17The firefighters didn't come here.
00:19They're spread out in the area and they can't be everywhere.
00:24It is the worst wildfire event in years for the country
00:27and has prompted the Prime Minister to declare a state of calamity
00:31in the hardest hit areas.
00:35It's for those who have no home, no shelter, no accommodation
00:39for the next few days, to have access to the most basic daily necessities
00:44so that we can be operationally and financially agile.
00:52More than 5,000 firefighters have been mobilised
00:55with 30 aircrafts and support supplied from France, Greece, Spain and Italy.
01:00Away from the active fronts, homes had been gutted and wildlife decimated,
01:05with more than 15,000 hectares scorched,
01:08according to the European Copernicus Satellite Service.
01:11European officials were quick to point out that these tragedies
01:14are fast becoming the norm.
01:16Europe is the fastest warming continent globally
01:22and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events
01:25like the one we are discussing today.
01:28We cannot return to a safer past.
01:31We cannot afford a year off.
01:34On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Agency
01:37also sounded a red alert for the planet,
01:40saying greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels
01:43and that global temperatures are set to increase.