Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Mountain villages evacuated as fires rage on in Portugal
"LISBON (AFP) Aug 16, 2005
Nearly 2,200 firefighters were battling dozens of wildfires in parched Portugal on Tuesday, :including 10 major blazes which were raging out of control and forced the evacuation of several mountain villages, officials said.
The fire crews were backed by nearly 600 vehicles, 29 water-dropping aircraft and 176 soldiers as they tackled fires that have hit the centre and north of the country since Friday amid scorching temperatures, the civil protection agency said.
Emergency services workers were evacuating residents from villages in the path of the largest fire near the central town of Pampilhosa da Serra which has been burning since Saturday, a spokesman for the mayor's office in the town said.
'The fire is completely uncontrollable,' Jorge Custodio told Lisbon-based Radio Renascenca."
Nearly 2,200 firefighters were battling dozens of wildfires in parched Portugal on Tuesday, :including 10 major blazes which were raging out of control and forced the evacuation of several mountain villages, officials said.
The fire crews were backed by nearly 600 vehicles, 29 water-dropping aircraft and 176 soldiers as they tackled fires that have hit the centre and north of the country since Friday amid scorching temperatures, the civil protection agency said.
Emergency services workers were evacuating residents from villages in the path of the largest fire near the central town of Pampilhosa da Serra which has been burning since Saturday, a spokesman for the mayor's office in the town said.
'The fire is completely uncontrollable,' Jorge Custodio told Lisbon-based Radio Renascenca."
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