Portugal
Forest fire hit Spain and Portugal
Forest fire hit Spain and Portugal and caused major damages
Spain and Portugal suffered different forest fires from the months of August to October. It is indeed one of the most destructive natural calamities that may hit a certain country because of its fast spreading traits, which can be strengthen by warm climate and strong winds. Some of the incidents are:
- Doñana National Park last August 14, 2014, which requires one helicopter and two hydroplanes to completely extinguish. There are no reported injuries or even deaths since the location is far from residential area. It took nineteen hours for the firefighters to contain it.
- Forest fire occurred at Cenes de la Vega last August 22, 2014 where two swimming pools in a nearby park have been temporarily closed so firefighters could extract the water from it. Although it is near the residential area, the local government were able to control it and did not announce any evacuation, there are no injuries and deaths reported as well.
- Pampilhosa da Serra forest fire took higher than five hundred firefighters including soldiers to control it last August 25, 2014. There are several houses near the area and authorities were able to evacuate some of them. Unfortunately sixteen casualties were not able to make it and were reported dead during the tragic incident.
- Junta de Andalucia experienced emergency fire level one last August 10, 2014. This incident required a total of eight helicopters and more than one hundred firefighters before they announced it as fire under control. Authorities were able to evacuate the residents in time that is why there are no reported injuries. After they completely declared fire out, an estimated of two hundred hectares of forest were burned and turned to ashes.
Spain and Portugal currently experiences driest winter and experts believe that it is one of the main factors that contribute to this kind of natural calamities. That is why the local government in both countries makes sure to spread awareness among their people with regard to the do’s and don’ts in climates like this.
In Spain, some of the locations where a forest fire happened became a tourist spot because tourists want to check the actual damage and the location itself while in Portugal, government officials are still optimistic because according to them 2014 listed almost sixty percent lower incidents of forest fire in the past several years