About 1,800 firefighters struggle to contain blazes that have injured at least 20 people

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

About 1,800 firefighters have been struggling to contain wildfires in central Portugal that have injured 20 people, including eight firefighters.

The fires broke out on Saturday across three fronts in the district of Castelo Branco, about 125 miles (200km) north-east of Lisbon, Portugal’s civil protection agency said.

The firefighters were being supported by 19 firefighting aircraft and hundreds of vehicles.

It is the first major bout of wildfires in Portugal this summer. The interior minister, Eduardo Cabrita, gave the injury toll on Sunday and said authorities were investigating the causes of the blazes.

The state broadcaster, RTP, televised images of flames consuming wooded areas of the rural region that has experienced recurrent wildfires in Portugal’s hot and dry summer months. RTP showed firefighters hosing down a line of flames rapidly advancing on houses in the village of Sarnadas while desperate residents looked on and water-dumping aircraft swooped overhead.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A firefighter watches the progression of a wildfire in Mação. Photograph: Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

While most of the injuries were from smoke inhalation, one person was evacuated to a hospital to be treated for burns, according to health authorities.

At least one road was closed and several residents were told to leave their homes. The Portuguese military deployed a mobile kitchen to help feed those affected by the fire and used its tracked vehicles to help clear roads for firefighting crews.

The country has witnessed some of its deadliest fires on record in recent years, with 106 people killed in 2017. That year’s death toll prompted the Portuguese government to back stronger firefighting prevention measures, leading to no wildfire deaths in 2018.