More than 3,300 firefighters backed by hundreds of vehicles and 38 aircraft and helicopters, including several rushed in from other European countries, struggled to contain dozens of fires across Portugal, AFP reported.

Officials said 32 fires were out of control and a national state of emergency was declared in the central Coimbra region, where the fire was advancing on several fronts including on the outskirts of the tourist resort of Miranda do Corvo, not far from Coimbra, the parched nation's third-largest city.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates visited the affected area Monday night and pledged that measures to help the population would be put into effect immediately.

Two French Canadair aircraft adapted for scooping up water from lakes and dropping it on fires joined the struggle on Monday, along with a Spanish Canadair.

Five German and Dutch helicopters and an Italian Canadair were to join the fray on Tuesday after Portugal invoked a European Union mechanism for help in an emergency.

Police announced the arrest of three arsonists, bringing to 98 the total of pyromaniacs arrested so far this year.

Portugal is suffering one of the biggest wave of wildfires in memory as a result of a heatwave and drought not experienced since the 1940s.

A 40-year-old man taking part in the struggle to beat back the flames near Vila Nova de Poiares in the north was killed when a firetruck backed over him, police said, bringing to 14 the number of people killed in this year's blazes.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who on Sunday visited areas affected by fires in his native Portugal where he is on holiday, praised the aid offered by EU nations to Portugal.

"We are all very impressed by the size of this problem. But it is with satisfaction that we watch European solidarity once more at work," he told reporters in northern Portugal.

The fast-moving wildfires had already charred at least 12 homes on the outskirts of Coimbra, located some 200 kilometers (125 northeast) of Lisbon. With a change in wind direction, Coimbra itself was no longer threatened by the flames, but firefighters were on guard against the possibility of flare-ups in the charred areas near the city.

Sunday to Monday "was a terrible night for the people of the city and for everyone involved in fighting the fire," the governor of the district of Coimbra, Henrique Fernandes, told state television RTP.

Forecasters meanwhile predicted temperatures would soar above a scorching 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in some areas, raising the risk of new fires, and remain high until at least Wednesday.
 
Emergency workers were evacuating residents from a village near Coimbra because of the threat from thick smoke and advancing flames, TSF reported.

Police said at least five roads in the center and north of the country were closed.

Speaking on French radio, Interior Minister Antonio Costa said meanwhile that Europe should combine its resources in fighting fires, notably by jointly building specialized water-bombing aircraft.

"It is essential to pool our resources because we have fires in Portugal, but tomorrow there could be others in Spain, in Italy, in Greece," Costa told French radio station Europe 1.

His comments echoed those of French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who on Sunday also called for the EU to set up a joint firefighting force.

In Portugal, the fires have destroyed 134,500 hectares (332,000 acres) of land so far this year -- more than in all of 2004.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies August 23, 2005)