Estimates released by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which is based on satellite imagery from the European Copernicus program, also show that Portugal is the third country in the European Union with the most burned area this year, after Spain (148,205) and Romania (123,816).

The area burned this year is nine times more than in the same period last year and the second highest since 2017.

ICNF data also indicates that more than 11,000 hectares were burned in the last 24 hours.

The ICNF indicates that since the beginning of the year and to date, 5,998 fires have broken out, causing 74,931 hectares of burned area, 50% of which were scrubland, 40% forest, and 10% agricultural land.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of fires has increased by 72%.

Portugal has been on fire alert since August 2nd.