The fires turned Portugal into hell | Chronic

The memory of the disaster of 2017, when forest fires claimed the lives of more than a hundred people, sounded the alarms in Portugal, where more than 1,600 brigadists worked throughout the weekend to extinguish the flames fired, apparently. Intentionally, about 200 kilometers north of Lisbon.

Much of the operation, which included 340 vehicles and seaplanes, was concentrated in the city of Vila de Rei, in the center of the country, where the fire was limited to 60% Sunday. "Given the difficulty of the field, we can not control it" said the commander of the civil protection of the central region, Luis Belo Costa

At the same time, near Vila de Rei, in the village of Mação, a subject aged about 55 was arrested, accused of having triggered forest fires. "It was very complicated, the fire came from many sides and surrounded the village," said a resident of Castanheiro Grande. According to authorities, the fire caused injuries of varying severity to 30 people in the Castelo Branco region, mainly due to a "smoke inhalation", while it was necessary to move to Lisbon in a serious state.

At the same time, near Vila de Rei, in the village of Mação, a subject aged about 55 was arrested, accused of having triggered forest fires.

They became heroes

In Freixoeiro, where most of the houses were occupied by tourists, families on vacation had to take responsibility for fighting the flames, as firefighters in the area ran out of water. There, a woman and her four children, from Lisbon, did not hesitate to take the pipes and the hoes to save the house they had bought last January.

"The firefighters did not arrive here, there were just us and a few children from the city, there were ten people in total, we managed to save our house and two other neighbors"He counted Maria Resende, mother of four children with whom she would stay awake all night to control the flames.

"We bought this house in January to leave town and the first year, it happens to us, it's a reception that is not desired by anyone", concluded.