“Despite a forecast for the next few days of a drop in temperatures, the special red alert will be maintained. We maintain the maximum fire rate and in the whole territory of mainland Portugal”, said today the national commander of Civil Protection, André Fernandes, at a press conference.

The commander once again appealed to the population to adapt their behavior to the risk of fire.

According to ANEPC, Wednesday was the 5th day of August with the highest number of ignitions, including those in Ourém and Nelas, already in the aftermath phase.

“Yesterday [Wednesday] was the fifth day with the highest number of fires recorded in August, with a total of 80 ignitions, with August 7th still having the highest number of occurrences: 113,” said the commander.

“Since 00:00 today we have had 20 fires recorded, involving 389 operators, with the support of 100 vehicles and at this moment we do not have significant active occurrences. We maintain 18 occurrences under surveillance and follow-up actions across the country, highlighting the main events yesterday [Wednesday] in Nelas and Ourém”, he said.

According to André Fernandes, 957 operators were involved in these two fires, with the support of 308 land and air resources.

The fire in Urqueira, in the municipality of Ourém, in the district of Santarém, which broke out at the end of the afternoon on Wednesday, was considered under control at 5:06 am, according to the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC).

The fire, which broke out at 12:24 pm on Wednesday in Senhorim, parish of Canas de Senhorim, municipality of Nelas, in the district of Viseu, was considered under control at 2:30 am.

With regard to these two fires, Commander André Fernandes said that 16 occurrences with medical assistance were recorded, all lightly injured, without “great concern”.

“In Nelas, four people were removed from their homes in Senhorim as a precaution due to anxiety, having stayed overnight in a support area of ​​the municipality. They've already returned home. And in Ourém, three children and a person with reduced mobility were also removed from the village of Carvalhal de Baixo as a precaution and have also returned to their homes, ”he said.

The ANEPC national commander also pointed out that at 09:00 there were no roads cut due to fires.

“Despite a forecast for the next few days of a drop in temperatures, the special red alert will be maintained. We maintain the maximum fire index in the entire territory of mainland Portugal”, he stressed.