A seaplane was fighting Forest fires in Portugal The plane crashed Friday, July 15, 2022 in the early evening near Vila Nova de Foz Cua, in the Guarda region (North), causing the death of the pilot, its only occupant, civil protection announced.
“At this point, we don’t have details of what happened.”This was stated by the commander of the National Civil Protection Andre Fernandez to the media earlier.
The aircraft was a medium-sized FireBoss type.
“I was horrified when I learned of the death of the pilot of the plane that crashed while putting out a fire”Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa responded on his Twitter account.
Filling 900 firefighters
In this plagued country for a week in Scorching temperatures and a series of firesEmergency services identified dozens of active fires Friday evening, which mobilized more than 900 firefighters.
At the same time, also in northern Portugal, one of the most alarming fires broke out in the municipality of Baiao, a mountainous area in the Porto region, upstream from the Douro, the mighty river that crosses it.
At the gates of Erez Village, the flame front continued to advance slowly toward a winding road, but the wind was blowing weakly and in the opposite direction of the dwellings.
When the Italian Candyer stopped Nuria in order to pour the clouds of water, firefighters were stationed on the road to prevent the fire from penetrating deep into the valley and around the houses to protect it.
It reached 47 degrees in northern Portugal
The owner of the house closest to the edge of the forest, Maria, a 71-year-old retired teacher, who did not want her last name to be mentioned, sprays plants in front of her door and asks the firefighters if they can give her something to eat or drink. “Every year this season there are fires here, but they are usually not very strong”saw France Press agencyThe fire broke out that roamed his garden near there at dawn on Thursday.
“It’s really hot, and it lasts for several days”Another resident, Afonso Almeida, a 67-year-old carpenter, commented.
Before a slight dip on Friday, temperatures had reached 47 degrees the previous day in northern Portugal, a record high for July in that country.
Since the start of 2022, smoke has erupted in Portugal just over 30,000 hectares, the highest number on July 15 since 2017, a year marked by deadly forest fires that killed nearly 100 people.
On Wednesday in Greece, two of four crew members of a helicopter involved in fighting a forest fire on the island of Samos died when the plane crashed into the sea.
