LISBON - Forest fires raged in Portugal on Thursday amid the country's worst drought in decades, temperatures soared and a famous thermal spring dried up.
More than 1,500 firefighters fought at least 20 fires across the nation, the civil protection office said. In at least one village fires reached several homes.
In the town of Torres Vedras, 60 km north (37 miles) of Lisbon, the thermal baths of Vimeiro were shut.
"There isn't enough water to feed the baths," Antonio Macedo, who is in charge of the baths, told Reuters. "It is the first time in our 60 years that we have had to shut."
Other thermal baths across Portugal have also complained about low water levels in recent weeks.
Fires worsened in the last two days as hot winds from Spain sent temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in the interior, the weather service said.
Rescue services asked rural homeowners to clear areas of 50 metres (yards) around their houses to keep fires from reaching them.
All of Portugal is in severe or extreme drought this year in the worst dry spell since at least 1945.
About 53,000 people are getting water from tank trucks, while in many areas there are water conservation measures in force, the national water agency said.
According to the agriculture ministry, there have been 4,353 forest fires this year, almost two-thirds more than the average for the previous five years.
Neighbouring Spain is also suffering its worst drought since records began in the 1940s. In western France, water levels are at their lowest since a drought in 1976.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
