Fires in Portugal: Tourists flee Odemira as wildfire inferno spreads in 46C heat

According to Portuguese media reports, the forest fire in Odemira was under control by 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

“There isn’t much active flame and what is there is inside the burned flame [land]. We are able to declare the fire under control. We have a few points that deserve special attention. We will have many reactivations throughout the day because the wind has switched quadrants,” said Vítor Vaz Pinto, regional commander of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Agency (ANEPC), reports Publico.

8,400 hectares have been burned, less than Tuesday’s forecast, and 15 planes and 320 vehicles remain at the scene.

It is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations and is currently being fought by over 800 firefighters, with at least nine injured.

Nineteen villages, four tourist resorts and a campsite have been evacuated and roads closed as forest fires rage in southern Portugal.

Ana Costa, a local farmer, said of the fires: “It was terrible, there were flames everywhere and we had to struggle. No one was there to help us, luckily I had three friends who came to help.” , MailOnline reports.

Raging flames are once again sweeping Portugal after last month’s wildfires near Cascais.

This time, fires have broken out near the popular holiday region of Algarve in southern Portugal.

The fire started on Saturday 5 August in the Odemira area north of the Algarve and has since spread further south.

My colleague Helen Coffey reports:

Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has confirmed its staff are “ready” to support British tourists in Portugal as wildfires ravage the south of the country.

“We have not been asked for consular assistance but our staff are available 24/7 to assist British nationals abroad,” a spokesman said The Independent.

Extreme heat and surging winds have created the perfect storm that could spark wildfires across much of Portugal and Italy.

Portugal is grappling with wildfires in the south of the country, with more than 850 firefighters struggling to douse the blazes. The first forest fire broke out in the Alentejo municipality of Odemira on Saturday, but has since spread south towards the Algarve.

The local mayor confirmed that there are two active fronts in both Odemira and Monchique. Monchique, a lush green mountain area in the Algarve, last burned in 2018. It’s popular with locals and tourists for its hot springs and hotels.

Elsewhere in the country, a fire broke out in Ourém in the Santarém district on Sunday, which has since been brought under control. A nearby fire in Leiria district – in Caranguejeira and Arrabal – was extinguished on Tuesday morning.

Odemira Mayor Helder Guerreiro described the situation as “critical, difficult and complex”, while Jose Ribeiro, commander of the Emergency and Civil Protection Agency, said there was “a lot of work left” to bring the forest fire under control.

The forest fires in Portugal have now burned thousands of hectares of land and forced the evacuation of around 1,400 people.

Travel company Tui said it turned a profit in the third quarter for the first time since the pandemic began after seeing very high demand for holiday travel.

The heatwave, which has led to crippling temperatures in parts of Europe and wildfires in the south of the continent, has only “temporarily dampened demand for trips to the Mediterranean,” the group said.

Tui reported adjusted group profit before interest and tax of 169 million euros (£145m) in the third quarter, up from a loss of 27m euros (£23m) around this time last year.

Revenue rose nearly a fifth during the period and summer bookings were up 6% year-on-year, partly due to higher pricing, the company reported.

“The Mediterranean remains the most desirable destination for summer vacations.

“The heat wave in northern Europe in June and the forest fires in southern Europe have only temporarily dampened the strong development so far – but overall it will be a very good summer for travel and a good year for Tui in 2023.”

“We are investing today in order to continue to grow significantly profitably in the future.”

Tui CEO Sebastian Ebel said: “The summer of 2023 is going very well and the demand for vacations remains high.”

Wildfires have devastated two countries in Europe this week, necessitating thousands of evacuations as firefighters fight on in powder keg conditions.

Extreme heat and surging winds have created the perfect storm that could spark wildfires across much of Portugal and Italy.

Portugal is grappling with wildfires in the south of the country, with more than 850 firefighters struggling to douse the blazes.

Here is the map showing where the fires are:

More than 1,000 firefighters are battling a spate of wildfires in Portugal as there and neighboring Spain experience several days of extreme summer heat, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) in many areas.

Three major fires raged in Portugal on Tuesday, the largest in the southwest near the town of Odemira, where around 1,400 people were evacuated from villages and a campsite as a precaution on Monday. On Tuesday, they gradually returned home.

According to the National Disaster Management Service, about 1,000 firefighters, 320 vehicles and nine planes were involved in the blaze as of Tuesday. Around 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) have been burned so far.

On Monday, the Portuguese weather agency IPMA issued six red warnings for extreme heat across the country, including in the capital Lisbon. Meanwhile, the same warning was issued in three counties in the north of the country on Tuesday as temperatures were expected to rise again.

Eleanor Noyce Here you can find the weather forecast for the coming days: