Portugal is bracing for what officials warn could be a devastating wildfire season, following winter storms that left millions of trees toppled and vast tracts of land covered in dry vegetation. The government has launched a nationwide operation to clear debris, improve road access, and deploy new firefighting resources, including fire retardant and Black Hawk helicopters.
In early February, storms Leonardo and Kristin struck within a week of each other, causing widespread flooding and wind damage. The storms tore through central and northern Portugal, snapping power lines, forcing evacuations, and felling an estimated five to eight million trees in the Leiria district alone, according to the news website Expresso. The fallen trees and shredded canopies now lie on the forest floor, drying out as temperatures rise and creating a perfect fuel bed for wildfires.
“If the authorities managed to remove all that timber, I would feel much calmer because it is a huge amount of fuel for fires,” said Manuel Calhanas, a 79-year-old retiree in the affected region. “Here on my property, I am trying to remove as much as I can.” His efforts echo the call from Portugal’s Minister for Internal Administration for citizens to “do your part” ahead of what he described as a “terrible summer.”
Clearing Roads and Building Defences
The Integrated Command for Prevention and Operations (CIPO), which coordinates the ministries of Internal Administration, Defence, and Agriculture and the Sea, has identified 10,000 kilometres of roads, rural tracks, and firebreaks in 22 municipalities that need clearing. In the first week of the operation, 3,000 kilometres were already cleared, according to Luís Neves, a senior official involved in the effort. “Clearing roads is one of the focuses of a multi-agency operation to prepare for wildfires,” Neves said.
Blocked roads remain a major concern, as they could prevent emergency services from reaching fires quickly. In Marinha Grande, crews have been working seven days a week since early March, using chainsaws to clear piles of timber from tracks criss-crossing the pine and eucalyptus forests. The municipal civil protection team has already cleared more than 154 kilometres of forest tracks.
Portugal’s National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection is paying particular attention to Leiria, Coimbra, and Castelo Branco—the three districts within the inland pine forest that were hardest hit by the storms. The Algarve and northern regions are also considered high risk. “This year we will have four more aerial bases operating with fire retardant. We will go up to five,” said Mário Silvestre, national commander for Emergency and Civil Protection. “What we want is to increase even further the success rate we currently have in initial attack.”
Fire retardant, a chemical substance that can slow or stop the advance of flames, was used at just one air base in 2025. Given the good results, it will become “one of the major bets” in 2026, Silvestre added, in an effort to contain fires that now spread far more violently than they did a decade ago.
Specialist reconnaissance teams will be deployed in each sub-region to provide operations commanders with real-time information on fire risk and behaviour. The reinforced attack groups have also been increased from one to four, providing highly capable tactical forces for prolonged interventions. All changes will be tested in an intensive operational exercise designed to ensure coordination among all agencies.
The 2026 Special Device for Fighting Rural Fires (DECIR) shows a slight increase in resources compared with last year. During the most critical Delta phase, from 1 July to 30 September, the plan includes 15,149 personnel organised into 2,596 teams, supported by 3,463 ground vehicles and 81 aircraft. For the first time, two Black Hawk helicopters from the Air Force, with greater capacity for water transport and complex operations, will be deployed for firefighting. The authorities will also have 50 bulldozers at their disposal, twice as many as in 2025, with the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) providing an additional 18, secretary of state for Civil Protection Rui Rocha said in an interview with JN/TSF.
Since last Friday, the first reinforcement of resources, known as Bravo level, has been in place and will remain until the end of May: 11,955 personnel, organised into 2,031 teams, are on standby, supported by 2,599 vehicles and 37 aircraft. The plan may be adjusted based on ongoing assessments, Silvestre noted.
Portugal’s experience with megafires is grim. In 2025, more than a quarter of a million hectares of land burned, and the memory of the catastrophic fires of 2017, which killed over 100 people, still haunts the country. The current operation reflects a determination to avoid a repeat, but much depends on the weather and the cooperation of citizens. As Manuel Calhanas put it, clearing land around homes is “one of the most effective ways of saving lives.”
