Portugal requests EU help with forest fires as man dies in blaze

[smurfy]

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19471508[/url]

[quote=BBC News][B]Portugal has said it is seeking European Union help to to tackle raging forest fires, in one of the worst summers for such blazes in years.[/B]

Dozens of fires are raging in the centre and north of the country and 1,700 firefighters have been deployed.

Officials say one man died while trying to protect his farm from one of the largest blazes, at Ourem.

Portugal is asking for four water-dumping aircraft, after a helicopter being used in the operations crashed.

Both the pilot and co-pilot are said to have escaped with minor injuries.

The country has been suffering from a heatwave, adding to a prolonged drought, which have created ideal wildfire conditions.

The heavily-forested north of the country is currently suffering the most, says the BBC's Alison Roberts in Lisbon, but the tourist destinations of the Algarve and the island of Madeira were also hit earlier in the summer.

Neighbouring Spain has also been battling fires this year, with some 153,000 hectares (378,000 acres) of land scorched since January.

Over the weekend, thousands of people fled homes along the southern Costa del Sol, one of Spain's most popular holiday destinations and home to a large British expatriate community.

Hundreds of firefighters, backed up by emergency military personnel and 31 planes and helicopters, battled a huge blaze near Marbella.

One man was found dead at Las Blanquillas, near Ojen, on Friday.

Spanish officials said the blaze was largely under control by Sunday, allowing the evacuees to return home.

The authorities say the cause of the Spanish fires will be investigated, and are not ruling out that they could have been started deliberately.[/quote]

[victormeriqui_1]

yesterday we had like smoke all over the city and shit, it was weird

[smurfy]

[QUOTE=victormeriqui_1;37535854]yesterday we had like smoke all over the city and shit, it was weird[/QUOTE]

That's exactly what the Prime Minister said when he requested EU help

[Bobie]

PULL OUT THE EU WE CANNOT HANDLE HELPING THESE ECONOMIC FAILURES ANYMORE #UKIP

MAYBE IF THEY HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY THE TREES NOT TO SET ON FIRE THIS WOULDNT HAVE HAPPENED

[Awesomecaek]

I hope Spain gets the help they need.

[danharibo]

[QUOTE=smurfy;37535863]That's exactly what the Prime Minister said when he requested EU help[/QUOTE]

What, literally?
[quote]
Oh man there's smoke and shit everywhere, call the EU
[/quote]

[RocKRebel]

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;37535873]I hope Spain gets the help they need.[/QUOTE]
Ouch, my feelings.

[DeanWinchester]

Seriously this shit is not even funny, just yesterday a fire started burning near my house, thankfully there was no wind so the firefighters managed to put it out pretty quickly.

[znk666]

[QUOTE=DeanWinchester;37536784]Seriously this shit is not even funny, just yesterday a fire started burning near my house, thankfully there was no wind so the firefighters managed to put it out pretty quickly.[/QUOTE]

You should bulldoze the house to make sure it won't burn down!

[DrBreen]

Wanna know something funny guys, our fire departments are underfunded, all the austerity led to budget cuts

Honestly, we deserve this, the government deserves this, because cutting money from one the most important public service institutions in this country will have severe fucking consequences

This and our forests are not properly monitored, and our people is fucking retarded