Portugal battles to contain wildfires

LISBON, July 29 (AFP): Almost 2,000 firefighters battled Tuesday to contain forest blazes across Portugal that have led to almost the whole country being put on high alert for fires.

Ten major fires blazed with two in the north and three in the centre of the country causing most concern.

Some 600 firefighters sought to control a blaze in a eucalyptus forest in the Arouca municipality of central Portugal.

"This is currently the fire on which we are concentrating all efforts and reinforcements," Mario Silvestre, head of the National Authority for Civil Protection, told a press conference.

Hundreds more battled a blaze near the central town of Penamacor and one on a mountain at Ponte da Barca near the northern border with Spain. Four Spanish water carrying planes joined the effort on Monday.

In all, 26 firefighting aircraft were in the air, civil protection officials said.

The Ponte da Barca fire, which started on Saturday, forced the evacuation of some people to a local church and burned nearly 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) of land, according to preliminary estimates.