Evacuation of 19 Villages Due to Fires in Portugal

Hundreds of firefighters spread out on Tuesday to extinguish a fire that broke out in southern Portugal, burning thousands of hectares of land and forcing around 1400 people to evacuate the area as a precaution. High temperatures and strong winds are complicating efforts to combat the flames, which have destroyed approximately 6700 hectares of land. The sky over Odemira turned dark due to large amounts of smoke from the fire filling the air. The mayor of Odemira, Helder Guerreiro, described the situation on Monday as "dangerous, difficult, and complex," while the chief of civil protection, José Ribeiro, stated that "there is much work to be done to control the fire." Authorities announced that "19 small villages, 4 tourist resorts, and a camping site were evacuated as a precaution, and many roads were blocked."