The Government will extend the declaration of a state of alert until the end of Thursday, in light of weather forecasts, the national commander of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) said today.
“Given the operational situation and the lack of improvement in the meteorological situation, the Government will extend the declaration of a state of alert until 23:59 pm on the 19th, that is, Thursday”, said André Fernandes, national commander of ANEPC, in the update on the situation regarding active fires in mainland Portugal, made at 20:00 pm, at the organization’s headquarters.
The Government had declared a state of alert on Sunday until 23:59 pm on Tuesday, due to the worsening risk of rural fires.
As of 19:30 pm today, 205 incidents had been recorded, according to André Fernandes, with 59 fires in progress, 19 of which were considered significant incidents, with the “complex of fires” in the towns of Sever do Vouga, Albergaria-a-Velha and Oliveira de Azeméis being particularly serious.
The declaration of a state of alert is due to the elevation of the special alert status of the Integrated Protection and Relief Operations System (SIOPS) and the need to adopt preventive and special reaction measures in view of the maximum, very high and high risk of fire, predicted by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), in a large part of the mainland.
The alert situation implies several exceptional measures, such as the prohibition of access and circulation in several forest areas or the prohibition of burning and work in forests using machinery (with the exception of situations involving fighting rural fires).
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