Former mayor is killed trying to defend Portuguese town from wildfire inferno

The former mayor of a Portuguese town has died after trying to fight dramatic wildfires which have ravaged Europe including Spain and Greece.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his ‘heartfelt condolences’ to Carlos Damaso, a victim of a fire he was fighting in his parish, asking that the current mayor of Guarda pass them on to his family.

Mr Rebelo de Sousa added that he had cut short his holidays and returned to the presidential palace, joining a meeting of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority.

For numerous days now, several thousand firefighters have been battling fires in various parts of the country.

Like its neighbour Spain, Portugal has invoked the EU’s civil protection mechanism to ask for help, requesting four firefighting aircraft to use until Monday, the presidency said on X.

Apocalyptic scenes have spread across Europe as dramatic wildfires bathe the countryside sickly orange, with blazes ravaging Portugal, Spain and Greece.

One horrifying photo taken in the Sernancelhe district of Viseu, Portugal, shows a raging inferno and dark clouds of smoke threatening to completely submerge a house in flames.

The sky is completely amber as an angry blaze continues to tear its way through the forest, making the air thick with smog. 

The former mayor of a Portuguese town has died after trying to fight dramatic wildfires which have ravaged Europe including Spain and Greece. Pictured: Firefighters try to fight the forest fire in Vila da Ponte, Sernancelhe, Viseu, Portugal

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his ‘heartfelt condolences’ to Carlos Damaso (pictured), a victim of a fire he was fighting in his parish, asking that the current mayor of Guarda pass them on to his family

Mr Rebelo de Sousa added that he had cut short his holidays and returned to the presidential palace, joining a meeting of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority

For numerous days now, several thousand firefighters have been battling fires in various parts of the country

Nearly 4,000 firefighters are fighting seven major fires across the country, in Tabuaço, Trancos, Sirarelhos, Sátão, Arganil, Vilarinho do Monte and Ermidas do Sado

The sky is completely amber as an angry blaze continues to tear its way through the forest, making the air thick with smog

Nearly 4,000 firefighters are battling seven major fires across the country, in Tabuaço, Trancos, Sirarelhos, Sátão, Arganil, Vilarinho do Monte and Ermidas do Sado.

Authorities extended the state of alert until Sunday, amid high temperatures expected to last through the weekend. 

‘We are being cooked alive, this cannot continue,’ said Vila Real Mayor Alexandre Favaios, where a fire had been burning for 10 days.

It comes as another heatwave pushes temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of Europe.

Global warming is giving the Mediterranean region hotter, drier summers, scientists say, with wildfires surging each year and sometimes whipping up into ‘whirls’.

Firefighters in Spain and Greece continued to battle wildfires Friday on a public holiday in all three countries as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes.

Spain was fighting 14 major fires. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend.

‘Today will once again be a very tough day, with an extreme risk of new fires,’ Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X.

Fire and clouds of smoke during a forest fire in Macieira, Sernancelhe, Viseu, Portugal, 15 August 2025

The fire in Macieira continues to blaze since it ignited on 13 August in Satao, within the Viseu district, and has spread to the Sernancelhe district in Viseu and Aguiar da Beira in Guarda

A woman with a hose tries to put out the fire during a wildfire in Santa Baia De Montes, northwestern Spain, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo R. Villar

Firefighters and local residents continue to battle with forest fire that broke out in the Cualedro region of the province of Ourense, Spain on August 15

A resident holds a water hose as he tries to extinguish a wildfire in Lamas, Cualedro municipality, Galicia region, Spain

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