Portugal sends 128 personnel to help fight fires in Spain – Portugal Resident

Portugal has sent a Joint Operation Force (or FOCON) to Spain, to help authorities fight the devastating wildfires tearing through areas around Madrid and Ávila.

Spain has already declared a national emergency and has been urgently evacuating thousands of people. The country has been assailed by wildfires this year. At least 13 people died in a massive fire in Almería last week – and it is already looking as if there has been another casualty today, in a fire in Valência.

The 128-strong Portuguese mission set off from Guarda at 3pm, and included personnel from Civil Protection authority, ANEPC, firefighters from Beiras and Serra da Estrela, and UEPS (Emergency Protection and Rescue Unit) officers from the GNR. 

In a statement, ANEPC has said: “The mission was launched under the protocol in force between the Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Spain on mutual assistance in civil protection matters, reinforcing the close collaboration between the two countries in responding to emergency situations.” 

FOCON is headed by David Lobato, the sub-regional commander for Emergency and Civil Protection in the Médio Tejo region. 

The Army supported the mission with 500 combat rations from its reserves, reports Lusa.

As the ANEPC notes, “several regions of Spain have been ravaged by large-scale wildfires, fuelled by adverse weather conditions characterised by high temperatures, which have contributed to the rapid spread of the fires and necessitated a reinforcement of fire-fighting resources”.

Other European countries are also sending missions to help, while Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has said there may be a ‘window of opportunity’ in the coming hours to try and get a handle on the conflagrations.

Speaking  near Madrid today, he said: “We have a window of opportunity this weekend to fight the wildfire and, therefore, to protect lives, protect population centres and, ultimately, to bring this very serious wildfire under control as far as possible.” 

Sánchez has established a unified emergency command to encompass both the Madrid sector and the Avila sector. “We will work as a single sector, treating this disaster, treating this wildfire, as one,” he said, in an update that mentioned the varoius forces of help coming from Portugal, Italy, Greece.

Sources: SIC Notícias/ BBC/ CNN