Spain, Portugal still on forest fire alert
Spain, Portugal still on forest fire alert
25August 2005
published by news.xinhuanet.com
MADRID — Spain and Portugal remained on alert Wednesday as 16 forest fires continued raging on the Iberian Peninsula.
The Meteorology Institute of Portugal warned of the “maximum” risk of new forest fires in six of the nation’s 18 administrative districts while seven other districts, including the capital Lisbon, are facing a “very high” risk, the second-highest alert level.
In the region of Galicia, northwest Spain, a state of maximum alert was in force due to the reappearance of the worst forest fire, which is under control in the O Pindo mountains, in Carnota municipality.
Spanish authorities have evacuated some 2,800 people while the number of evacuees in Portugal is not immediately known. But in the early hours of Wednesday, roaring fires had already forced theevacuation of about 60 people from the forests in the suburbs of the city of Coimbra in central Portugal.
A total of 17 Spaniards died in the fires on the Iberian Peninsula, while 16 people were killed in Portugal, including 11 firefighters who tried to put out the fires.
Fires are still raging in 16 places throughout the Iberian Peninsula, including Sao Furtuoso, Viseo, Cerquido and Vingada inPortugal, and Lausame, Orense, A Caliza and Leon in Spain.
