Arson suspected in rash of forest fires in northern Portugal
Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez in northern Portugal, six large forest fires erupted. Civil defence services suspect that arsonists are behind these incidents.
Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez in northern Portugal, six large forest fires broke out. Civil defence services suspect that arsonists may be behind these unexpected fires. The fire chief in Arcos de Valdevez, Filipe Guimaraes, reported that almost all the fires erupted simultaneously at night.
The services indicate that the alleged arsonists acted with premeditation and were aware of the strong wind gusts approaching the region, which intensified the fire's strength and hindered firefighting efforts.
Evacuation of villages
Local services are considering the evacuation of several villages to which the fire approached on Thursday morning. In the last five days, there have been 18 fires in the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez.
The frequent occurrence of fires given the currently low air temperatures in our region indicates high arsonist activity. This is also evidenced by the fact that forest fires always occur after dusk, added Guimaraes.
