PORTUGAL: Forest fires were still blazing in Portugal yesterday, although seven fires had been tamed.
The worst was burning in central Portugal in the village of Sao Frutuoso in Coimbra. That fire, which has been blazing on several fronts for the past four days, has mobilised the largest number of firefighters in the country. On Monday it destroyed 10 houses in the suburbs of Coimbra city, about 120 miles north of Lisbon.
More than 100 people have been evacuated from their homes as flames threatened several villages. The other four fires were ablaze in the Viseu and Viana do Castelo districts.
Altogether, some 1,500 firefighters helped by 400 fire engines and 11 water tank aircraft and helicopters are fighting flames in Portugal. About 600 members of the armed forces were also deployed to areas where fire has already been controlled. So far this year, wildfires have killed 15 people in Portugal, 11 of them firefighters, while two more died on Monday. On Sunday Portugal asked the EU for help after it admitted it could no longer fight dozens of large blazes on its own.