Summer Fires Char Portugal, France

LISBON, Portugal, July 27, 2004 (ENS) - Fires raging across Alqueva in Portugal's southern region have blackened about 3,000 hectares (11 square miles) of forest and brush, forestry officials told reporters today. Temperatures have soared to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and strong winds are fanning the flames.

About 500 members of the armed forces have been called out to fight the fires. They are working alongside about 1,000 regular fire personnel, but still, environmentalists say officials are not doing enough to stop the fires.

Saying he learned from last summer's fires that claimed 18 lives and cost the country at least a billion euros, Interior Minister Antonio Figueiredo Lopes tried to reassure reporters and the public that Portugal is prepared for this year's fire season.

One of the dozens of fires consuming Portuguese scrubland. (Photo credit unknown)

Another fire is threatening a residential area near Santarem, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Lisbon.

Officials said they have requested more water bombers to arrive from Spain, Italy, Greece and France. They expect the specialized firefighting planes will arrive later today.

But France is combatting its own fires. In the dry, brushy hills north of Marseille, 2,000 people were evacuated on Saturday as wildfires fanned by strong winds swept across the land.

French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin believes the fire was the work of an arsonist and said several people have been arrested in connection with the blaze.

Portugal was hit hard by the fires that devoured European forests last summer. Flames destroyed extensive stretches of forests and shrub land in at least five of the 18 Portuguese districts during the hottest and driest year on record.

This summer is shaping up to be just as devastating. Officials said that about 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) of land have burned since the beginning of the year.

WWF Europe says that every year more than 50,000 fires burn an estimated average of 600,000 to 800,000 hectares across the Mediterranean - an area comparable to the island of Crete or of Corsica

Human induced fires, whether deliberately started or sparked through negligence, account for 95 percent of Mediterranean forest fires, the conservation group says.