Portugal asks Europe for help as wildfires rage

A firefighter works to extinguish a wildfire in Penalva do Castelo, Portugal, September 16, 2024. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal asked the EU to send it more fire-fighting planes on Monday as at least 15 blazes raged in central and northern regions, including one that burned houses on the outskirts of the town of Albergaria-a-Velha.

More than 800 firefighters were battling that fire and three others in the northwestern Aveiro district, where police shut motorways - including a stretch of the main highway between Lisbon and Porto - and evacuated several villages.