LISBON - Forest fires flared up in northern and central Portugal on Sunday, with hundreds of firefighters battling five blazes in the drought-hit Iberian nation.
About 220 firefighters backed by three aircraft were battling the worst fire, a wind-whipped blaze near Agueda, a town about 250 km (160 miles) north of Lisbon, a spokeswoman for the national fire service said.
The blaze forced about 70 residents to evacuate a home for the elderly, Lusa news agency reported. It also destroyed six houses in a nearby village and four families were evacuated, it said.
Other fires were out of control near the cities of Castelo Branco, Vila Real, Viseu and Guarda.
"All these fires started overnight. In the last couple of weeks there haven't been any fires," the fire service spokeswoman said.
Portugal is suffering from its worst drought in at least 60 years. About 255,000 hectares (640,000 acres) of forest have burned this year, the second-highest total since 1980, according to Agriculture Ministry figures.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
