Fires. Around 80 municipalities in 9 districts are at maximum risk.

Around 80 municipalities in the districts of Vila Real, Bragança, Viseu, Guarda, Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Santarém, Portalegre and Faro are at maximum risk of rural fires this Thursday, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).

Several municipalities in the northern and central interior and the Algarve are also at very high risk of rural fires, according to the IPMA.

According to the institute, the danger of rural fires will remain high at least until Saturday due to the hot weather.

This hazard, determined by the IPMA, has five levels, ranging from low to high. Calculations are obtained from air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation over the last 24 hours.

The forecast of hot weather led Civil Protection to issue a warning on Tuesday of very high to maximum rural fire danger in the north and center of the country, as well as in the Algarve, in light of forecasts of high temperatures in the coming days.

According to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), temperatures could reach 40 degrees in the interior of the southern region, as well as in the Tagus and Douro valleys.

The Authority cites data from the IPMA, highlighting relative humidity of less than 30% in much of the territory, “with weak night-time recovery”.

The GNR warned this Thursday of the need to redouble attention and adopt preventive measures in view of the worsening risk of fires in some areas of the country due to weather conditions.

In a statement, the GNR said it has intensified patrols and surveillance in high, very high, and maximum risk forest and agricultural areas to deter negligent behavior and detect suspicious situations early.

The GNR appeals to the sense of responsibility of all citizens, highlighting the importance of avoiding behaviors that could trigger fires , namely making fires or bonfires, burning or burning, launching rockets or hot air balloons and disinfecting apiaries without spark arrestors.

It also warns of the danger of driving tractors, machinery and heavy transport vehicles without a fire extinguisher, a spark arrestor system and flame arrestors on the exhaust pipes or chimneys.

In a statement released this Friday, the GNR recommends that the population monitor weather warnings and fire risk levels through official channels and avoid unnecessary travel to forest areas on days of greatest risk.

Since February 16, the GNR has been carrying out the Safe Forest 2025 Campaign, with awareness-raising, inspection, surveillance and detection of rural fires, in addition to investigating the causes of forest fire crimes and validating burned areas.

As part of this campaign, 7,280 forest fires were recorded as of September 14th.

Of these ignitions, 26.0% resulted from arson (1,407 cases) and 24.6% were caused by the use of fire (1,330 resulting from burning garbage, burning and slash-and-burn, launching of rockets and bonfires).

More than one in ten were accidental in origin, 8% were re-ignitions (435 cases), 1.2% were caused by natural causes (64 cases of lightning strikes) and 0.6% were the result of activities such as hunting.

Regarding fire surveillance and detection, as of September 14, the GNR had issued more than 2,600 administrative infraction reports, of which 2,239 were for lack of fuel management, 398 for improper use of fire and 34 for restricting access.

52 people were also arrested for the crime of forest fire and 651 suspects were identified for committing this crime.