Portugal to deploy record number of crew to battle wildfires

LISBON, Portugal – After an exceptionally dry winter and weeks of unseasonably high temperatures, Portugal is assembling a record number of firefighters and water-dropping aircraft as it braces for a potentially difficult wildfire season.

The Interior Ministry says Wednesday that almost 11,500 firefighters and allied staff, including soldiers and police, will be deployed in the peak wildfire months of July through September. That is almost 800 more than last year. They will be supported by up to 60 planes and helicopters and almost 2,500 vehicles.

Portugal witnesses thousands of wildfires each year, largely due to poor forest management.

In 2017, 106 people died in Portuguese wildfires in what was by far the deadliest summer fire season on record.

No one died last year in wildfires after the government took exceptional measures.