Forest fires flare anew in Portugal

Portuguese forest fires flared anew yesterday, defying hopes that cooler weather would bring relief for one of the country's worst outbreaks of fires in decades.

Higher temperatures and rising winds reignited at least three blazes stretching over 20 kilometres near Miranda do Corvo, a mountain town about 180 kilometres north of the capital Lisbon, local firefighters said.

Nationwide, seven small fires were out of control, the national fire service said. Cooler foggy weather in the morning helped damp down some fires, but rising winds later fanned the embers into leaping flames.

"In the morning we were hopeful, the humidity was rising. But now it's really ugly. All of Portugal is in flames," said Paula Mendes Dias, a restaurant worker in the town of 7,000 people.

Worried residents in Aradas, a nearby hamlet, doused their homes with hoses and buckets as a precaution against flames which were advancing with a low roar like surf breaking on a beach. Many residents had been evacuated overnight because of thick ash in the air.

Water-bombing aircraft, including a German Super Puma helicopter, roared overhead dumping water on the fire in thick pine woods.

One Portuguese water-bombing plane crashed near Viseu, about 60 kilometres northeast of Coimbra, authorities said. The cause of the crash was unknown and the pilot, a 27-year-old Spaniard, suffered only scrapes.

Lusa news agency identified the plane as an Air Tractor.

An overnight drop in temperature, thick morning fog and lack of wind had raised hopes that the fires could be brought under control, firefighters said.

Portugal is suffering its worst drought on record, contributing to forest fires which have raged since May.

The National Forest Fire Authority estimates that more than 180,000 hectares of woodland have burned so far this year, already the second highest annual figure since 1980.

Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France and Spain have sent aircraft to help put out the fires in response to Portugal's weekend request to the European Union for help.

Although the fires have devastated vast areas of woodland, damage to homes and businesses has been limited. When firefighters cannot control a fire, they retreat to nearby hamlets and put up walls of water to save property.

Joao Carmona said he and his nephews had fled his nearby vacation home to take refuge at a Mirando do Corvo hotel.

"We came here (to the hotel) because of the children. It was four in the afternoon and we were told they (firefighters) were going to cut the road to our house," the 54-year-old Lisbon resident said.

The Agriculture Ministry has said losses from the fires are not high enough for Portugal to draw on the European Union's Solidarity Fund, used in cases of natural disaster.