Four firefighters injured as two wildfires burn across northern Portugal's Bragança and Vila Real districts
A rural fire in Vinhais has injured four firefighters and mobilized 147 operacionais by Saturday evening, while a separate blaze in Vila Pouca de Aguiar entered resolution after deploying 190 operacionais.
Vinhais fire in Montesinho Natural Park
A rural fire broke out at 04:36 on Saturday, 15 August, in the Moimenta e Montouto parish of Vinhais, in Bragança district, within the Montesinho Natural Park near the Spanish border. The alert was given at 04:36 and the first resources dispatched at 04:55. The fire burned in brushland in a rugged area away from populated settlements.
The fire's status fluctuated through the morning. It was declared "in resolution" at 05:50 and "conclusion" at 08:05 and again at 09:30, but by 16:45 it was registered as active once more. Weather conditions at the site recorded a temperature of 28.9°C, relative humidity of 29 percent, and wind from the east at 14.8 km/h, factors that can contribute to fire spread in vegetation areas. The occurrence was classified as a rural fire of brushland nature.
Four firefighters were injured while combating the Vinhais fire on Saturday. Two suffered injuries from smoke inhalation and two from heat radiation. All four were treated at the scene and transported to hospital as a precaution, though all presented a stable health condition, according to the Bragança Proteção Civil speaking to Correio da Manhã.
- Vila Pouca de Aguiar fire starts in Alfarela de Jales, Vila Real district
- Vinhais fire alert given in Moimenta e Montouto, Montesinho Natural Park
- First resources dispatched to Vinhais fire
- Vinhais fire declared in resolution
- Vinhais fire declared conclusion
- Vinhais fire again declared conclusion
- Vila Pouca de Aguiar fire enters resolution phase
- Vinhais fire reverts to active status
- Vinhais fire: 147 operacionais, 55 terrestrial means, 1 aerial deployed
Resources deployed to Vinhais
By 18:15, 113 operacionais and 42 viaturas were on the scene with no aerial means, according to a source from the Comando Sub-Regional de Emergência e Proteção Civil das Terras de Trás os Montes speaking to Lusa. By 19:00, the deployment had grown to 116 operacionais with 45 viaturas. By 21:15, the Vinhais fire was the one requiring the most firefighting resources in Portugal, with 147 operacionais, 55 terrestrial means, and one aerial mean, according to Proteção Civil. No information on burned area, structural damage, or injuries had been indicated in the data consulted as of the SAPO report at 18:36.
Vila Pouca de Aguiar fire
A separate fire in Vila Pouca de Aguiar, in Vila Real district, started on Friday at 15:20 in brushland in the Alfarela de Jales parish. By Saturday morning, the fire had one active front remaining after overnight conditions allowed firefighters to contain it. Paulo Santos, operations officer for Proteção Civil, told RTP Antena 1 that the service expected to fully control the flames on Saturday. The fire burned in brushland with no houses or populations at risk.
- Vinhais, 18:15
- 113
- Vinhais, 19:00
- 116
- Vinhais, 21:15
- 147
- VPA, 06:55
- 179
- VPA, 11:48
- 190
The Vila Pouca de Aguiar fire mobilized 179 operacionais with 58 terrestrial means as of Saturday morning. By the time the fire entered its resolution phase around 11:20, 190 operacionais, 54 viaturas, and five aerial means remained on site for consolidation and mop-up operations. Earlier in the morning, RTP reported more than two hundred operacionais, 60 terrestrial means, and five aerial means deployed to the fire.
District alerts
Bragança and Vila Real districts were on alert due to high temperatures, with the added risk of thunderstorms and showers in northern Portugal. Castelo Branco and Évora also recorded high temperatures. Vila Pouca de Aguiar was classified as having a "very high" fire risk on Saturday by the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA).
