fires

Violent wildfires are still raging in Portugal, where plumes of smoke rising from the blazes can be seen and photographed from space (pic: European Space Agency)

Portugal fires threaten thousands
High temperatures and dry weather are hampering efforts to extinguish a host of wildfires across Portugal.
Some blazes have been brought under control, but a string of villages and the ancient city of Coimbra remain threatened by about a dozen fires.
Villagers returning to their homes have described how fires tore through some 140,000 hectares and destroyed homes.
A summer of drought has sparked fires across southern Europe, with Spain and France also fighting flames.
At least 15 people have died in Portugal this year from fires, often started deliberately in bone-dry countryside forests.
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Four people, including one former firefighter, were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of arson, police said. A total of 102 people have been held this year.
Central and northern Portugal have been hit the worst, and fires are still threatening the outskirts of the third-largest city of Coimbra.
in BBC