Reporter Almost Trapped by Wildfire in Portugal

A reporter working for TSF Radio Noticias in Portugal, was caught in the middle of a fire while driving down highway near Aveiro in northwest Portugal on Wednesday.Show more

Rui Tukayana started his trip to cover the fires in the country, when he saw fire and smoke on the side of the road and decided to film.

Suddenly, the flames were too close to him and the smoke completely covered the highway in the west region of Portugal.

During about two kilometers, Tukayana recorded images of the fire, while explaining what he was witnessing.

He closed the window of the car due to the high temperature and kept recording.

"It's very hot, very hot here," he said as he drove down the highway, thick smoke engulfing the road ahead and flames licking the side of it as he passed "I was not expecting to go through this when I started filming the video" Tukayana added.

More than 3,000 firefighters battled alongside ordinary Portuguese citizens desperate to save their homes from several wildfires that continued to rage across the European country on Thursday, fanned by extreme temperatures and drought conditions linked to climate change.

The central part of the country has been particularly hard hit by a spate of blazes this week.

In the village of Bemposta, residents used garden hoses to spray down their lawns and the roofs of their houses in hope that they could save them from the raging wall of red flames that approached through the wooden hills as dusk fell on Wednesday.

More than 800 firefighters still fought on in the Leiria district, where Bemposta is located, on Thursday morning.

Temperatures in the interior of the Atlantic country were forecast to hit 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day as the mass of hot and dry air blown up from Africa continues to linger over the western edge of the Iberian Peninsula.

In June, 96% of Portugal was classified as being in either in "extreme" or "severe" drought.

The hot air and parched ground, combined with winds, has created the perfect cocktail of severe fires.

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said Thursday that with temperatures expected to remain unusually high for the coming days his government plans to extend a state of alert for wildfires until Sunday.

The week-long alert was originally declared to run until Friday.

The government has temporarily barred public access to forests deemed to be at special risk, banned the use of farm machinery and outlawed fireworks.

Costa said that firefighters had to respond to 200 different blazes on Wednesday and pleaded for his fellow citizens to take extra care when in the countryside.

Some 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) have been scorched this week in Portugal, said its Civil Protection Agency.

Civil Protection commander André Fernandes said that 135 people, including 70 firefighters, have been injured so far, but that there are no confirmed fatalities from the fires.

Portugal has improved its fire safety since wildfires killed more than 100 people.

The European Union has urged member states to prepare for wildfires this summer as the continent faces another extreme weather shift that scientists say are being triggered to climate change.