Fighting wildfires in Portugal and Spain

By Euronews

Published on 13/08/2016 - 15:33

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Russian aircraft start operations to extinguish wildfires in Portugal

Firefighters continue to battle wildfires on the Iberian peninsula as international aircraft come to their assistance.

Portugal

In the first nine days of August, the blazes burned through 62,000 acres across Portugal.

Four people have lost their lives. On the island of Madeira 200 homes were destroyed and hundreds were evacuated.

A the fires come amid a heatwave and were fanned by strong winds.

International Assistance

Joining the fight against the fire, two Russian Beriev Be-200 Altair planes are scheduled to begin operations.

In just a few seconds the aircraft can collect up to 12.5 tonnes of water to be dropped on the flames.

PORTUGAL – Firefighters watch the progression of wildfire at Calheta in Madeira island. By Patricia De Melo Moreira pic.twitter.com/9aDspapzvN
— AFP Photo Department (@AFPphoto) August 13, 2016

Spain

In Spain, the northwestern region of Galicia the situation has improved since a series of wildfires burned throughout the week.

Porto do Son remained on high alert due to the fire’s proximity to populated areas.

Two large fires were stabilised in Laza and Avión, while ten others are now under control.

BrifTineo</a> en <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/porto?src=hash">#porto</a> do son <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Galicia?src=hash">#Galicia</a> <a href="https://t.co/jhrywXYzaw">pic.twitter.com/jhrywXYzaw</a></p>— Brif Tineo (BrifTineo) August 11, 2016

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