113F In Portugal As Forest Fires Rage - Reuters

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LISBON - "Hundreds of firefighters battled forest fires across Portugal yesterday in a heatwave which has brought temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

The tourist region of Faro on Portugal's southern coast was hardest hit, with more than 150 firefighters working in mountains near the spa town of Monchique, a spokesman for the national emergency service said.

Across Portugal, hundreds of firefighters backed by water trucks, helicopters and a plane were battling to contain blazes, with the districts of Porto and Vila Real also hit.

Portugal is recovering from huge fires last year that destroyed 13 percent of its forests and woodlands."

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http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/26261/story.htm

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1. Deutsche Welle Update - 10,000 Individual Fires To Date

"As forest fires continue to rage throughout Portugal, a deadly heat wave spreading across Southern Europe is causing concern in Spain and France. The rising temperatures are exacerbating more than 10,000 individual fires in Portugal which have burned more than 26,800 hectares (66,224 acres) of forest land across the country.

In Spain, the country's southern regions have been sweltering in temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) since last week and have claimed an estimated eleven lives so far.

The most recent victims, a 32-year-old man and an 82-year-old woman who died of heat strokes in the southern cities of Cordoba and Jaen respectively, were discovered on Monday while a 78-year-old woman died of a circulatory failure brought on by the high temperatures on the Canary Island of Tenerife over the weekend.

In the Spanish capital, Madrid, temperatures have hit 39.3C (103F) - a 73-year high. The latest heat wave brings back memories of the extreme heat that swept through Europe last summer, killing thousands. Exceptionally hot weather killed at least 141 people in Spain last year."

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http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1277460_1_A,00.html