Portugal tests fire response in European exercise with 700 operatives from six countries

Published on 08/05/2026 - 11:47 GMT+2

Portugal is preparing for this year's wildfire play with an workout involving a occurrence similulation tackled by much than 700 operatives from six European countries.

Crews from Cyprus, Spain, France, Poland and the Czech Republic joined their Portuguese colleagues for the astir week-long workout acceptable against the backdrop of a large, fast-spreading agrarian fire.

The European civilian extortion workout PT EU MODEX 2026 took spot successful the municipality of Macieira with existent resources connected the crushed and simulated operational scenarios, affecting ample areas of wood and respective residential areas, but with nary existent hazard to the section population.

Organised by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), successful collaboration with the planetary consortium APELL-EUROMODEX arsenic portion of the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism, the workout aimed to trial and fortify the associated and integrated effect capableness astatine nationalist and European level successful the look of analyzable exigency scenarios, with a peculiar absorption connected agrarian fires.

As good arsenic warring wildfires, it besides tested the evacuation of populations, enactment for affected communities, the coordination of nationalist and planetary resources and the reception and integration of overseas teams.

The EU MODEX exercises, funded by the European Union, purpose to fortify planetary practice and guarantee a much effectual and coordinated effect successful catastrophe situations.

During the archetypal time of the exercise, enactment was carried retired connected coordinating, mounting up and organising the operation, which was indispensable for the commencement of the simulated scenario. An alert concern was besides declared successful the municipality and the Municipal Emergency and Civil Protection Plan was activated.

The commandant of the Viseu Dão Lafõe Sub-regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command, Miguel Ângelo David, said that 1 of the issues tested was the self-sufficiency of the modules successful presumption of food, transport logistics, overnight stays and rotation of operatives.

"It's not a mean exercise, similar a drill. We're playing with the clip factor, but supra each we're talking astir procedures. In the end, the planetary modules volition get their certification oregon recertification [from the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism]," helium said.

Last year, Portugal deployed thousands of firefighters to combat fires arsenic temperatures soared, with the bulk of the state connected precocious alert for vigor risk.

Portugal's National Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) said that, by mid-July, wildfires had burned through 10,768 hectares of land, 3 times much than successful the aforesaid play past year.

Fires successful the country, the ICNF said, person go much assertive since 2017.