Speaking to the Lusa news agency, before the start of the meeting of the Municipal Emergency and Civil Protection Commission, the mayor said that "the damage is enormous, incalculable. The municipality has already requested government support to help those left with nothing."

The commission will conduct an initial assessment of the damage caused by the fire and decide whether to maintain the Municipal Emergency and Protection Plan, activated at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

"We're going to begin this survey, but we know that several producers lost farms and agricultural machinery, there are cattle ranchers with animals that need feeding, and many chestnut trees, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, and pine forests burned," says the mayor of Trancoso.

Amílcar Salvador adds that "about 8,000 hectares have already burned in these two days, which is a very large area for a municipality like Trancoso."

"Very complicated"

According to the mayor, these were "very complicated" two days in that municipality in the Guarda district, in which the public's intervention was "very important."

"The locals fought the flames at the entrance to the villages, which prevented the burning of primary homes and, fortunately, there were no fatalities. They were very important because they were the ones who knew the terrain," he praised.

According to Civil Protection, the fire caused six minor injuries, three of which were firefighters, and 11 people required treatment at the scene for smoke inhalation.

The mayor of Trancoso dismisses criticism of the lack of resources on the ground and asserts that there were plenty of resources dedicated to fighting the flames.

"The problem was the strong winds. It was almost impossible to stop the flames; there were times when the fire got completely out of control, especially on Sunday," he acknowledges.

Amílcar Salvador recalls that there were "over 70 fire departments, 500 firefighters, and over 200 vehicles on the ground, but sometimes we couldn't be in the right place, with the smoke and strong winds making the work of the firefighters very difficult."

The mayor of Trancoso adds that, as of Monday morning, "things are calmer, with only two fires in the Aldeia Nova area, very close to the municipality of Fornos de Algodres, and in the Reboleiro mountains."

By late Monday morning, the Trancoso fire was the main incident recorded by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), with 636 firefighters, supported by 217 vehicles and seven aircraft, involved in fighting the flames.

The flames' growth is not putting any settlements at risk, and firefighters' work is progressing favourably, according to Civil Protection.