Portugal Wildfires Claim Third Victim: Authorities

A man has died while assisting in efforts to combat the wildfires scorching Portugal, raising the death toll to three, the country’s civil protection service reported on Wednesday.

The victim, employed by a company contracted to help the northern municipality of Mirandela fight the fires, lost his life in an accident involving construction equipment used to contain the flames, Commander Paulo Santos of the National Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) told AFP.

Initially reported to be 75 years old, local city hall officials clarified that the man was 65.

Approximately 15 people were injured while fighting fires near the central city of Sabugal on Tuesday, one of them critically. Two water-bombing airplanes sent by Sweden through the EU’s civil protection agency were deployed to assist firefighting operations.

Fire crews continue to battle the four large fires, with the north and centre of the country experiencing the most complex blazes.

Across neighbouring Spain, wildfires have killed four people and burned a record area of 373,000 hectares (848,000 acres) — equivalent to nearly half a million football fields.

The fires in both countries have been exacerbated by heatwaves and prolonged droughts, factors increasingly linked to climate change.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, Portugal has lost more than 261,000 hectares to wildfires so far this year, compared with 143,000 hectares in 2024.

The 2017 fire season remains the most devastating in recent memory, with 563,000 hectares scorched and 119 lives lost.