Over 2,000 firefighters sent to battle major blazes in Portugal

Over 2,000 Portuguese and Spanish firefighters have been battling eight wildfires in central Portugal. Rough cut.
A total of 2,061 firefighters were working on eight major wildfires on Monday afternoon (August 14) as blazes continued to burn for a second day across central Portugal.
Spain's Military Emergency Unit deployed 116 firefighters and 26 vehicles to Portugal after the government activated the European Civil Protection protocol on Saturday (August 12) in order get help from its neighbours as a precautionary measure.
Exceptionally dry and hot weather ignited Portugal's worst fires in memory early this summer, killing 64 people. Fires have continued to flare up in recent weeks with the arrival of an even hotter spell of weather.
More than 140,000 hectares of forest have burned this summer in Portugal, more than three times the average over the last 10 years, according to European Union data.