Arson suspected in spate of forest fires in northern Portugal
Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, in the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez in northern Portugal, six large forest fires erupted. Civil defense services suspect that arsonists are behind these incidents.
During this period, six significant forest fires broke out in Arcos de Valdevez, northern Portugal. The civil defense services suspect that arsonists may be responsible for these unexpected fires. The fire chief in Arcos de Valdevez, Filipe Guimaraes, reported that nearly all the fires ignited simultaneously at night.
The services indicate that the alleged arsonists acted with premeditation and were aware of the strong wind gusts approaching the region, which intensified the fires and hindered firefighting efforts.
This is pure terrorism. In my opinion, the fires were caused by people, said a fire department representative in an interview with the Lisbon TV station SIC.
Evacuation of villages
Local services are considering the evacuation of several villages that the fire approached on Thursday morning. In the last five days, there have been 18 fires in the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez.
The frequent occurrence of fires, given the currently low air temperatures in our region, indicates high arsonist activity. This is also evidenced by the fact that forest fires always occur after dusk, added Guimaraes.
