Portugal has appealed to the European Union, Spain and Morocco to keep additional firefighting aircraft on standby as soaring temperatures heighten the threat of wildfires across.
The country, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said on Friday. The request comes as Portugal faces what Montenegro described as an “exceptional situation,” with forecasts indicating an extremely high wildfire risk over the next few days. He said the move was precautionary and not prompted by any shortage of national firefighting resources.
“We believe it is better to receive support from our EU allies and closest neighbours than to divert resources from other parts of the country where they are currently deployed,” Montenegro said at a press conference.
To strengthen its emergency response, Lisbon has activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and bilateral cooperation agreements with Spain and Morocco, allowing for rapid deployment of additional aerial firefighting resources if conditions deteriorate.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s meteorological agency, IPMA, has issued red weather warnings for parts of mainland Portugal, with temperatures topping 40°C in several districts.
The government has placed mainland Portugal under a state of alert until late Monday and introduced a range of preventive measures. These include restricting access to vulnerable forest areas, suspending forestry operations involving machinery and banning controlled agricultural burning to minimise the risk of fresh outbreaks.
Civil protection authorities said more than 2,800 firefighters, assisted by 864 emergency vehicles and 32 aircraft, were tackling six active wildfires across the country on Friday. The most significant blaze was burning in the central district of Viseu, where crews continued efforts to prevent the fire from spreading amid extreme heat and dry conditions.
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