Valpaços wildfire rages into second day: over 680 firefighters deployed, villages confined, blaze crosses into Mirandela

Fire origin and spread

The fire started around 15:00 on Tuesday, 28 July, in the locality of Cabeço, in the parish of Ervões, municipality of Valpaços, Vila Real district. By Tuesday night it was burning with three active fronts across a large area. On Wednesday morning the three-front structure persisted, and by evening the flames had crossed the river into neighbouring Mirandela municipality (Bragança district), reaching the villages of Fradizela, Vale de Telhas and São Pedro Velho. The fire also spread to Vilarandelo, Cabeço, Santa Velha and Barreiros within Valpaços.

“O fogo ainda está bastante ativo, já passou para o lado de Bragança. Há muito vento no local e o combate está a ser difícil, portanto, neste momento, ainda está para durar.”

Resources deployed and escalation

Firefighting resources grew steadily from 336 operatives and 104 vehicles at 22:45 on Tuesday to 439 operatives and 140 vehicles by early Wednesday morning. By 19:35 on Wednesday the deployment had climbed to 681 operatives, 204 ground vehicles and 10 aerial assets. Commander Artur Mota of the Alto Tâmega e Barroso sub-regional command said reinforcements were arriving from across the country, while noting that low humidity during the night posed the main difficulty.

Villages confined and damage reported

Civil Protection confined the village of Gorgoço in Santa Valha, where the fire destroyed second homes and derelict houses. In Vilarandelo the flames burned a scrapyard. The parish council president of Fradizela, Ana Pimpão, told Lusa the fire came very close to houses there, but a team of sapadores managed to hold the line. Two homes housing elderly residents were evacuated as a precaution due to smoke inhalation risk, with those displaced taken to the village primary school.

“O incêndio esteve muito próximo das casas, mas o grupo de sapadores conseguiu atuar sempre na linha das casas.”

Road closures

Several roads were cut as the fire advanced: the EN213 between Valpaços and Chaves was closed from around 22:50 on Tuesday, the EN206 between Valpaços and Bouça (Mirandela), the municipal road EM544 between Possacos and Fornos do Pinhal, and the EM544-1. The EN06 between Valpaços and Bouça was also closed from around 16:00 on Wednesday.

Wider context: Guarda fire extinguished

During the night, the large fire in Guarda district, which had started at 13:51 on Monday in Rochoso and spread across the municipalities of Almeida, Pinhel and Sabugal, was brought under control around 01:00. Commander João Rodrigues of the Beiras e Serra da Estrela command said the burned area was around 4,000 hectares with a perimeter of about 40 kilometres. The A25 motorway and EN16 were reopened by 00:10. The Guarda fire's resolution left Valpaços as the sole active rural fire in mainland Portugal as of 07:00 on Wednesday morning.