"The public is hereby informed that the Ponte da Barca Municipal Emergency and Civil Protection Plan has been activated due to the occurrence of fires in the municipality since midnight on July 28, 2025," according to the law, reads the municipality's post on its Facebook page.

According to that legislation, "all citizens and other private entities are obliged, on the mainland, to provide civil protection authorities with the personal cooperation requested of them, respecting the orders, guidelines, and requests addressed to them. Refusal to comply constitutes the crime of disobedience."

The fire that broke out on Saturday in Parada, Lindoso parish, and is heading towards Ermida and Lourido, in the Peneda-Gerês National Park, was, at 9:40 a.m., being fought by two aircraft, 235 operational and 77 operational, civil protection said today.

In statements to the Lusa news agency, Commander Marco Domingues, of the Alto Minho Sub-Regional Command, said that five more aircraft "are en route to the location" of the flames, in the municipality of Ponte da Barca, Viana do Castelo district.

Marco Domingues added that the fire "has two active fronts. It hasn't reached Lourido yet, and there is a risk, but there are resources on the ground trying to prevent that from happening."

"There are two villages, Ermida and Froufe, that are in the fire line and are a cause for concern, but protective resources have already been deployed," he said.

According to Marco Domingues, "the two active fronts are burning in inaccessible areas," and fighting them is hampered by strong winds, terrain, and inaccessibility."

"We have been using a foot-based firefighting strategy, combined with aerial resources," he emphasised, adding that there is no forecast for the fire to come under control given the weather conditions, which "tend to be complex."