LISBON - The area burned by wildfires in Portugal has surged in recent days, reaching 172,000 hectares since the beginning of the year and surpassing the total of 136,000 hectares recorded in all of 2023, provisional data released on Monday by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) showed.

According to the institute, wildfires scorched 96,200 hectares between Aug 14 and 17 alone, accounting for 56 percent of this year's total. Since January, 6,378 fires have been recorded, making the burned area the second largest for the same period since 2017.

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Portugal has been under nationwide alert since Aug 3 due to extreme heat that has heightened wildfire risk. On Aug 15, the government requested four firefighting aircraft through the European Union (EU) Civil Protection Mechanism, but none had arrived so far.

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Two people have died in Portugal as a result of wildfires this year, according to the Lusa News Agency report. One, a former local official in the eastern city of Guarda, was killed on Aug 15 while fighting the flames. The other, a firefighter from Covilha, died in a traffic accident while heading to a blaze.

As of 3 pm Monday, 85 wildfires remained active across the country, the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection reported.