Days into the titanic battle against Mação’s endless forest fires, authorities have once again had to close the A23 motorway.
Traffic has been cut in both directions, and Civil Protection spokesperson Patrícia Gaspar says there is no prevision as to when it can be resumed.
The situation sees no traffic flow between Mação and Gardete, while over 800 firefighters backed by 236 vehicles and 11 planes and helicopters throw everything at this fire that they can.
This particular blaze began at midnight on Wednesday.
Like so many before it, arson is thought to have been the cause.
Mação, in the district of Santarém, has been battered by fires since the beginning of July.
The rural borough has literally been burnt black. Explains website MedioTejo, almost all its villages have been evacuated at some point in the last few weeks, “the people are exhausted, teenagers risk their safety trying to put out small reignitions, vines and agriculture have all been destroyed, and animals have fled”.
A report going out today says that “practically the only things left in the borough are the houses”.
