Around 2,800 firefighters were battling multiple wildfires in central and northern Portugal on Sunday amid a heatwave, prompting the government to implement a "state of contingency".

The fires have been burning in several areas since Thursday, destroying at least two homes. Nearly 250 fires were reported to have started on Friday and Saturday.

The blazes come amid an intense heatwave in Portugal, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) this week and expected to rise in the coming days.

Scientists say extreme weather events such as heatwaves and droughts are linked to climate change. They are expected to become even more frequent, more prolonged and more intense in the future.

On Sunday the Portuguese government issued a national "state of contingency", which puts rescue services on alert. It is above state of alert but beneath state of calamity and state of emergency.

The Civil Protection agency said some 1,500 firefighters were battling blazes in Ourem, Pombal and Carrazeda de Ansiaes municipalities.

"The fire got 50 metres (165 feet) from the last house in the village," pensioner Donzilia Marques, from the hamlet of Travessa de Almogadel in central Portugal, told AFP.

"Up there everything burned," the 76-year-old said, pointing to the hills between her home and the town of Freixianda.

More than 700 soldiers were dispatched to the area on Sunday after the fires destroyed an estimated 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of vegetation, the Civil Protection agency said.

The fires have injured around 40 firefighters and civilians. Most were treated on the spot for breathing problems or exhaustion.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa cancelled a planned trip to Mozambique to keep track of the fires.

The government has asked the European Union to trigger its common civil protection mechanism, which will allow Portugal to access two water bomber planes stationed in Spain.

"We are facing an almost unprecedented meteorological situation", national civil protection commander Andre Fernandes said on Saturday.

Portugal regularly sees extreme weather this year. Extreme drought affected around 28 percent of the country in June. In May, 97 percent of the country suffered severe drought and one percent was classed as extreme.

Firefighters contain 'mega-fire' in southern France
Besseges, France (AFP) July 9, 2022 - A massive fire that ravaged 650 hectares (1,600 acres) and forced people to evacuate in southern France has been brought under control, the fire service said Saturday.

Up to 950 fire fighters backed by aircraft had deployed in the southern Gard region but the "critical phase" has now passed, said fire service spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Eric Agrinier.

"For the moment, the fire is contained. This means that we don't think it can spread anymore," he added.

Around 520 fire fighters remain on the ground in the area, he said, 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Montpellier and the Mediterranean coast.

The spokesman said units would continue treating the edges of the fire, metre by metre, and were monitoring to avoid any risk of the blaze worsening with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), winds and low humidity as risk factors.

Described by emergency responders as a "mega-fire", the blaze started near the village of Bordezac and forced evacuations from nearby Besseges and other settlements on Thursday night.

The local prefect's office had said around 100 people were put up in holiday homes and restaurants in the area.

Like large swathes of the country, southeast France has suffered from drought this year, increasing the risk of fires.

During an unseasonable heatwave last month, around 600 hectares were burned in a fire started by shelling on an army artillery training range near the Mediterranean port city Marseille.

French civil security services recommended that citizens remain very careful until Sunday in all "the Mediterranean zone", "because of a very high danger of fires".

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Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology

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900 firefighters battle 'mega-fire' in southern France
Besseges, France (AFP) July 8, 2022
More than 900 firefighters backed by aircraft were deployed on Friday to battle a massive blaze in France's southern Gard region that burned 600 hectares (1,500 acres) overnight. "This fire is far from being done, there are fronts in hard-to-reach areas that we haven't tackled and that are advancing freely," said Eric Agrinier, a senior member of the fire service. "It's going to be a feat of endurance." Working into the night after the blaze began late Thursday, firefighters set backfires to ... read more