Aerial resources reinforce firefighting with an active front

“At this moment we have an active front, all the other fronts are dominated, although with consolidation and aftermath work taking quite a long time, with a need for cooling down, which means the work is not over, in fact we have a lot of work ahead of us”, said Miguel David, Commander of Relief Operations (COS), at 08:00.

More than 600 personnel, 200 vehicles and six tracked machines remain in this theater of operations.

"And we have already planned to deploy air resources as soon as they can operate to assist with cooling operations," said Miguel David.

The active front is in the Alvão mountain range, between Galegos da Serra and Arnal. On Monday night, the fire had four active fronts, and by evening, two had yet to be contained.

The commander said that the active front, at the moment, does not pose any major concerns and is not very extensive, located between the administrative boundaries of the municipalities of Mondim de Basto and Vila Real.

Air resources, he specified, “must always work in a complementary manner between the strategy of the air and the strategy of men on the ground.

Planes and helicopters will be mobilized for this theater of operations.

The day will require constant vigilance because the work “will still be long”.

This morning, according to the sub-regional commander Viseu Lafões, there are no villages at risk.

On Monday there were situations where confinement was imposed (people were asked to stay at home) in Pardelhas, Ermelo and Mascoselo.

“In many circumstances, the population was extremely cooperative with the combat teams and even decisive in some actions within that same combat,” he highlighted.

This fire broke out at 11:45 pm on Saturday, in Sirarelhos, Vila Real, and, on Sunday, it spread to the municipality of Mondim de Basto.

"It was a very demanding job, with steep areas, some with gradients of over 65%. These operators did a fantastic job that will have to continue throughout the day," said Miguel David.

This morning, the National Road (EN) 304, between Alto do Velão and Ermelo, remains closed.