Serra do Alvão hit by new fire

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The fire raging in the scrubland of the Serra do Alvão, in Alvadia, has four fronts that are burning “with some intensity,” the commander of the Ribeira de Pena fire department said this Friday.

António Martins told Lusa news agency that this morning there were three different ignitions between Favais and Alvadia, in the northern part of the Alvão mountain range, in the municipality of Ribeira de Pena, district of Vila Real.

The fire that is causing the most concern broke out at 7:30 am and, according to the commander, spread across four fronts, highlighting access as being difficult.

“The head of the fire has no access whatsoever and will have to be fought with aerial resources,” he said.

According to the website of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), at 12:00 pm, 130 operators, 38 vehicles and eight aircraft were mobilized for this fire.

"It's going to be a difficult fight due to the lack of access for heavy vehicles. We'll be relying heavily on air support to fight this fire," António Martins added.

The Serra do Alvão is part of the municipalities of Vila Pouca de Aguiar, Ribeira de Pena, Vila Real and Mondim de Basto, and in the latter two municipalities it was hit by another fire that broke out on Saturday and was resolved on Wednesday morning, and burned around 3,000 hectares.

On Thursday, another fire consumed around 500 hectares of the Alvão mountain range, in the village of Pinduradouro, in the municipality of Vila Pouca de Aguiar, in an area very close to Alvadia.