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Fires have ravaged southern Europe for several days, provoking the concern of the authorities and residents. In Spain, Four firefighters died In the fires that have been ravaging the country for over a week. The last death reported dates from Monday, August 18, 2025.
In Portugal, a firefighter participating in the fight against fires was killed in an “accident”. It is the second death caused by homes that have ravaged the country since the end of July, according to a press release from the Portuguese presidency obtained this Monday by theAFP.
Firefighters who died in road accidents
In Spain, the local government “deplores the death” of a firefighter in the “reversal” of a vehicle carrying water, according to a message on the social network X.
The accident occurred when the convoy it belonged to this vehicle has moved away from the fire to take a very tilted forest path. “For an unknown reason, The vehicle approached the embankment and changedfalling on a high drop slope, “added the local government.
In Portugal, the firefighter died “in service” on Sunday, during an “road accident” which also made “two seriously injured” among his colleagues, said the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in this press release, paying tribute to their “uninterrupted dedication”.
This firefighter is the second fatal victim of fires this year in Portugal, after death Friday in Guarda, in the east of the country, of a former mayor who was fighting the flames.
Monday morning, some 2,000 firefighters were still hard at work to fight several homes in the north and center of Portugal.
Hundreds of thousands of hectares burned
Whether in Spain or Portugal, governments have activated the European Union civil protection mechanism.
More than 70,000 hectares have burned In Spain in recent days and more than 157,000 since the beginning of the year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), figures by constant increase.
In Portugal since the start of the year, Nearly 185,000 hectares went up in smokean area already greater than that of the whole of that burned in 2024 (approximately 136,000 hectares), according to provisional data from the Institute of Forests (ICNF).
Faced with the magnitude of the devastation caused by fires in Spain, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Sunday “A national pact in the face of climate emergency ».
Portugal has extended the exceptional fire prevention measures until Tuesday prohibiting access to certain forest areas or the use of fireworks.
The country is waiting for the arrival on Monday from two Swedish fire -fighting planes, while the Canadair sent last week by Morocco will remain mobilized until Wednesday, said Portuguese Minister of the Interior Maria Lucia Amaral.
Experts consider that the multiplication of heat waves is the consequence of climate change. The Iberian Peninsula is strongly struck, with heat waves and droughts that promote forest fires.
With AFP
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