Three Firefighters Die as Portugal Battles Dozens of Wildfires

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in a warehouse during a wildfire at Arrancada village, Agueda in Aveiro on September 17, 2024. (AFP)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in a warehouse during a wildfire at Arrancada village, Agueda in Aveiro on September 17, 2024. (AFP)
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Three Firefighters Die as Portugal Battles Dozens of Wildfires

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in a warehouse during a wildfire at Arrancada village, Agueda in Aveiro on September 17, 2024. (AFP)
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in a warehouse during a wildfire at Arrancada village, Agueda in Aveiro on September 17, 2024. (AFP)

Three Portuguese firefighters died on Tuesday in one of dozens of forest blazes ravaging the country's central and northern regions, bringing the death toll from the latest wildfires to seven people since Saturday, authorities said.

Portugal is fighting over 50 active wildfires on its mainland and has mobilized around 5,300 firefighters, as well as calling for European Union help.

Authorities have closed several motorways, including a stretch of the main highway linking Lisbon and Porto, and suspended train connections on two railroad lines in northern Portugal.

ANEPC civil protection authority commander Andre Fernandes told reporters that three firefighters from the Vila Nova de Oliveirinha fire brigade had died while fighting a fire in Nelas, a town about 300 km (190 miles) northeast of Lisbon.

Reuters footage overnight showed local residents pouring buckets of water on advancing flames near Nelas.

Fernandes' deputy Mario Silvestre said earlier the overall situation was "calmer but still worrying and complex ... with many villages and settlements being affected, and the teams very dispersed across this theatre of operations".

He spoke from the command center in Oliveira de Azemeis in the northwestern Aveiro district where a cluster of four blazes has caused the most damage so far, burning down dozens of houses, and where four people have died.

Fernandes said late on Monday the Aveiro fires that had burned through more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and shrubland could engulf a further 20,000 hectares.

Portugal and neighboring Spain have recorded fewer fires than usual after a rainy start to the year, but both remain vulnerable to the increasingly hot and dry conditions that scientists have blamed on global warming.

Temperatures topped 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) across the country over the weekend, when the fires first broke out and were fanned by strong winds.

Jorge Ponte of the meteorology agency IPMA told Reuters that Monday was "one of the worst days ever" for fire risk in Portugal, combining high temperatures even close to the sea, wind gusts that reached 70 kmh and very low humidity, all brought by an anticyclone.

These factors create "a cocktail of dangerous conditions," he said. The situation could improve by Wednesday afternoon, he added, with a chance of showers on Thursday, although the danger would still persist.

The government on Monday requested help from the European Commission under the EU civil protection mechanism, leading Spain, Italy and Greece to send two water-bombing aircraft each.



Starmer Urges Putin to Prove He is Serious about Peace by Signing up to Ukraine Ceasefire

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Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference following this morning's virtual summit video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)
1 of 11 Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference following this morning's virtual summit video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)
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Starmer Urges Putin to Prove He is Serious about Peace by Signing up to Ukraine Ceasefire

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Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference following this morning's virtual summit video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)
1 of 11 Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference following this morning's virtual summit video conference at 10 Downing Street in London, England, March 15, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign up to a ceasefire in its war against Ukraine if he is “serious about peace” and said allies will “keep the pressure” on the Kremlin, including financially and militarily.

At the end of a virtual meeting of what he has termed the “coalition of the willing,” Starmer said the Kremlin’s “dithering and delay” over US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal, and Russia’s “continued barbaric attacks” on Ukraine, “run entirely counter” to Putin’s stated desire for peace.

“We agreed that now the ball was in Russia’s court, and President Putin must prove he is serious about peace and sign up to a ceasefire on equal terms,” the prime minister said.

Around 30 leaders were involved in the call, including European partners such as French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Also present were Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and leaders from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as officials from NATO and the European Union’s executive.

Starmer convened the meeting, the second in two weeks, as a means of helping Ukraine in the face of a change of approach by the US, following the return of President Donald Trump, as well as gauging support for any future possible peacekeeping mission. Many more countries were involved this time than the previous meeting on March 2.

He said there was a “stronger collective resolve and new commitments were put on the table,” both in relation of the “coalition of the willing in terms of defending the deal” and also on the wider issue of the defense and security of Europe, The AP reported.

Troops in Ukraine to safeguard peace Starmer said all those attending had reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security, and agreed that Ukraine "must be able to defend itself and deter future Russian aggression."

He added that “robust and credible security arrangements” are the best way to ensure lasting peace in Ukraine, and said military planners would convene again in the U.K. this week to progress practical plans to support Ukraine’s future security.

Without providing precise details, Starmer again said the allies were ready to put troops into Ukraine in order to safeguard the peace after any ceasefire. The UK and France have been working to get Ukraine’s allies to provide troops, weapons or other aid to a European military force that could be deployed to reassure Ukraine and deter Russia from attacking again.

“We will build up Ukraine’s own defenses and armed forces, and be ready to deploy as a ‘coalition of the willing’ in the event of a peace deal, to help secure Ukraine on the land, at sea, and in the sky,” he added.

Ceasefire without conditions The meeting took place in the wake of a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Zelenskyy has backed. Putin has indicated that he supports a truce in principle but has set out a host of details that need to be clarified before agreeing to a ceasefire.

Starmer said Zelenskyy's backing for an unconditional ceasefire shows that Ukraine is the “party of peace”.

Zelenskyy emerged from the meeting calling for strengthened sanctions to pressure Russia into accepting a ceasefire without conditions that could pave the way for a peace deal. In a series of posts on X, he said “Moscow understands one language” and that a 30-day ceasefire “without killings” would create a window in which “it would truly be possible to negotiate all aspects of a real peace.”

He also said it wasn't up to Putin who is stationed in Ukraine after any peace agreement as he gave his backing to a European contingent on the ground with an American “backstop."

"If Putin wants to bring some foreign contingent onto Russia’s territory, that’s his business. But it is not his business to decide anything about Ukraine’s and Europe’s security,” Zelenskyy said.

‘Good vibes coming out of Russia’ The United States has shifted its approach on the war since the return of Trump to the White House. The change of approach relative to that taken by President Joe Biden became particularly notable after Trump clashed with Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office.

Starmer has taken the lead, along with Macron, in assembling the “coalition of the willing,” in part to persuade Trump to maintain support for Kyiv. One outcome has already been a growing acceptance from European countries in particular that they need to do more to ensure their own security, including by increasing their defense spending.

Trump voiced optimism Friday that Putin, who met with US envoy Steve Witkoff earlier in the week, will back a ceasefire.

“I'm getting from the standpoint about a ceasefire and ultimately a deal some pretty good vibes coming out of Russia,” he said.

Ukraine, under severe military pressure on parts of the front line three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, has already endorsed the truce proposal. Russia’s army has gained battlefield momentum, and analysts say Putin likely will be reluctant to rush into a ceasefire while he feels he has an advantage.

“The world is watching,” Starmer said. "My feeling is that sooner or later he is going to have to come to the table and engage in serious discussions.”