In an interview with Lusa late last night, the Regional Emergency and Civil Protection of Greater Lisbon, Hugo Santos said “We are going to decrease substantially [in the next few hours], because, despite having wind with some intensity, the very humidity that will be felt at night allows us to withdraw resources”.

The means that will remain positioned on the ground will maintain consolidation, aftermath and surveillance operations, he added.

Last night the means continued to decrease and there were 379 operational personnel, supported by 115 vehicles, according to the website of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC).

The forest fire broke out around 17:00 on Tuesday, in Zambujeiro, in a mountainous area, and, with the force of the wind, the flames spread to a dense urban area, without, however, burning houses or other buildings.

Even so, as a precaution, residents of areas such as Zambujeiro, Cabreiro and Murches were removed from their homes.

A group of 61 Spanish children, from a scout movement, were among the 77 people who had to be evacuated on Tuesday because of the fire.

The fire was considered under control by 04:00 today.

According to the Cascais Council, in the district of Lisbon, around 800 animals were removed from the municipal kennel and the Associação São Francisco de Assis and transferred to another municipal pavilion.

After an afternoon of aftermath and consolidation operations, to avoid flare-ups, Hugo Santos also told Lusa that another firefighter was assisted on the ground, due to an eye injury, having been transported to a hospital unit.

The regional commander of Emergency and Civil Protection for Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, Elísio Oliveira, had mentioned earlier that a firefighter had been injured, with a sprained foot.

The Civil Protection had detailed on Tuesday night that nine firefighters suffered minor injuries in fighting the flames, mainly in “situations of exhaustion”, while four civilians were assisted “for smoke inhalation”.