A firefighter has died in Portugal while combating one of the wildfires that have broken out across the country, the Portuguese presidency announced today.
The presidency expressed condolences to the family of the firefighter, “who tragically lost his life while fighting the wildfires in the municipality of Sambugal,” in the north of the country.
He is the fourth victim of wildfires this summer in Portugal.
According to Portuguese media, the 45-year-old firefighter was employed by a private fire service company.
Portugal, like neighboring Spain—where four people have also lost their lives—is battling devastating wildfires that have burned more than 600,000 hectares, despite a drop in temperatures that has somewhat improved conditions, according to Civil Protection.
Data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) shows that nearly 2,780,000 hectares have turned to ash in Portugal since the beginning of the year.
In 2017, more than 5,630,000 hectares burned in fires that caused 119 deaths—a record year since EFFIS began recording such data in 2006.
The Iberian Peninsula has been severely affected by climate change, which is driving longer heatwaves and droughts, drying vegetation and thereby fueling wildfires, experts warn.
