Portugal has successfully brought under control the devastating forest fires that erupted in the northern region of the country, following a week of intense heat and strong winds. The wildfires claimed the lives of five individuals, including four firefighters, and left around 100 people injured, with 14 suffering serious injuries.
The wildfires began over the weekend and quickly spread across a front of approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) in the Aveiro region, south of Porto. The EU’s Copernicus climate monitor estimated that the fires ravaged around 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) of land. The situation escalated rapidly due to the combination of extreme heat and strong winds, which fueled the flames.
This year has seen a significant increase in wildfire activity, with over 120,000 hectares burned since January. This figure surpasses the destruction witnessed in 2017, a year marked by catastrophic wildfires that claimed over 100 lives and burned 500,000 hectares. Experts attribute the increasing frequency and intensity of such wildfires to human-induced climate change, which is leading to longer-lasting heatwaves and extreme weather events.
