The fire declared last Thursday in the municipality of Vouzela, in north-central Portugal, has already burned 15,000 hectares and has been classified as "in the resolution phase". Despite this improvement, more than a hundred Portuguese municipalities remain on maximum alert due to the high risk of new outbreaks.
In the Vouzela area and its surroundings, nearly a thousand firefighters remain deployed, given the possibility that some of the three fronts the fire reached may reactivate. The fire was not considered under control until Sunday, when human and material resources sent by other countries, including Spain and Italy, were already operating in the area.
The magnitude of the incident has generated a smoke column about 620 kilometers long, clearly visible from space, according to captures from the Sentinel 3 satellite of the European Copernicus program.
Portugal's Integrated Rural Fire Management System (SGIFR) has reported that, between July 1 and 5, the various fires have destroyed a total of 30,155 hectares, with a particular impact on the Center region, with 14,244 hectares affected, and the North region, with 11,834 hectares.
If compared to 2025, the area burned has almost quadrupled and marks a maximum since 2017. Furthermore, the number of fires has increased by 70% so far this year compared to the same period in 2025, also registering the largest volume of incidents since 2022.
Portugal has been experiencing a period of very high temperatures since last week, which has led the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) to declare a red heat alert in several districts. The Government, for its part, decreed a state of alert on Friday, valid until 11:59 p.m. this Monday, due to the "significant worsening of the risk of rural fires".
More than a hundred municipalities are on maximum alert in the districts of Braga, Vila Real, Bragança, Viseu, Guarda, Santarém, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Leiria, Portalegre, Évora, Beja, and Faro, according to the IPMA. The remaining municipalities in continental Portugal remain at a high risk level, except for 19 municipalities on the coast of the districts of Leiria, Lisbon, Coimbra, Aveiro, and Porto.