The Valpaços wildfire has crossed into Mirandela and hundreds of crews are still fighting it
The Valpaços wildfire crossed the Rabaçal river into Mirandela. More than 850 firefighters on the ground, at least 21 houses hit and five minor injuries.
The fire that started on Tuesday in Ervões, in the municipality of Valpaços, still has not let up. It crossed the Rabaçal river, pushed into the neighbouring municipality of Mirandela and was still burning this morning, with more than 850 personnel and close to 270 vehicles working the flanks.
Where is the Valpaços wildfire now?
After Valpaços, the flames entered Mirandela near Bouças and reached the villages of Fradizela, São Pedro Velho and Vale de Telhas. Vale de Telhas was ringed by fire at one point and residents had to leave their homes, returning once the wind dropped and the front lost momentum. The EN206 road was closed for part of the operation.
How much damage has it done?
The provisional tally is at least 21 houses hit, eight of them first or second homes — the rest were abandoned buildings and outbuildings. Five people suffered minor injuries: three firefighters, a GNR officer and a civilian. Nobody is in a serious condition, which on a fire this size, in villages this close to the scrub, counts as a small mercy.
The pattern is the one repeating itself across the northern interior this summer: an afternoon start, wind and dry undergrowth, and a front that gains kilometres before crews can get around it. Portugal was already carrying the worst burned-area figure in Europe this year, and July is doing nothing to soften that number.
What should you do if a fire gets close?
If you live in one of the affected villages, the basics are worth repeating: do not try to defend the house alone, shut doors and windows, fill buckets and containers with water, and leave when the authorities tell you to leave. The live picture, with active incidents and deployed resources, is on the Civil Protection portal.
For everyone else, the usual summer plea applies: no burning off, no fireworks, and think hard about what goes out of a car window. Almost every one of these fires starts with something a person did.
Image: ManuelBarreira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
