More than 15,000 hectares have burned in Portugal in the last five days, with the burned area doubling between July 1 and July 5, according to provisional data from the Integrated Management System for Rural Fires (SGIFR).
Consulted by the Lusa agency, SGIFR data indicate that the 4,592 forest fires recorded this year caused 30,155 hectares of burned area, and more than 15,000 burned between Wednesday and Sunday.
According to SGIFR, managed by the Agency for Integrated Management of Rural Fires, the fires consumed more area in the Centro region, totaling 14,244, with the fire that began in the early hours of Thursday in Vouzela (Viseu) contributing to these figures and which was only brought under control today. In the North region, the burned area totals 11,834 this year.
Compared with the same period in 2025, the burned area almost quadrupled, this year recording the highest since 2017.
Meanwhile, the number of fires has risen this year by about 70% compared with the same period of 2025, and the greatest number of fires since 2022 is observed.
SGIFR data also indicate that 56% of the burned area occurred on days of high fire risk.
Since last week Portugal has been recording very high temperatures, with the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) placing several districts under red alert due to the heat.
The Government declared last Friday a state of alert that is in force until 23:59 today due to the “significant worsening of the risk of rural fires”.
