Statistics from the SGIFR, managed by the Integrated Rural Fire Management Agency (AGIF), show that since January 1, 5,211 fires have been recorded, causing 41,644 hectares of burned area.

The SGIFR portal reports that 72% of the burned area and 53% of this year's fires were recorded in the North region, where fires have been most intense in the last week in the districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Vila Real, and Porto.

According to the portal, more than half of the area has been consumed by flames since July 26.

Compared to the same period in 2024, the number of fires has almost doubled this year, and the burned area is eight times larger. In 2024, as of August 5th, 4,671 hectares had burned, and this year, 41,644 hectares have burned.

However, the total burned area in 2024 was 147,000 hectares, of which 135,000 burned in just six days during the September fires.

In the last decade, the burned area figures for August 5th had only been higher in 2017 (147,953 hectares) and 2022 (62,734 hectares).

After the North, with a total of 2,864 fires and 30,002 hectares of burned area, the Alentejo region is the second with the largest area burned (7,079 hectares), followed by the Center (4,033 hectares), Lisbon and Tagus Valley (503 hectares), and the Algarve (27 hectares).

In the Center region, there were 792 rural fires, 861 in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, 510 in the Alentejo region, and 184 in the Algarve.

Although most of the fires are still under investigation, data indicate that 19% of fires were caused by the use of fire and 14% by arson.

According to SGIFR statistics, 14% of fires this year occurred on days of "very high" fire risk, 5% on days of "maximum" risk, and 50% on days of "low" risk. It was also when the risk was lowest that the flames consumed the most burned area (86%).

Mainland Portugal has been on high alert since Sunday and will be until Thursday due to the high risk of fires.