Loaned Water Bombers Hold the Line in Portugal’s Fiery August

Sirens from the wildfire fleet still echo above the valleys, but the exodus of foreign aircraft is finally on the horizon. By the end of the week the skies should quiet down—though not completely—as Portugal enters the closing stretch of an unusually brutal fire season.

Why foreign aircraft are still roaring over Portugal’s skies

The Fire Boss floatplanes dispatched by Sweden and the Canadair water bombers flown in from Greece have accepted a last-minute request from Lisbon to stay until Friday night, giving ground crews a crucial cushion while scattered hot spots continue to flare. Operating out of Monte Real air base, the four planes are part of the European Union’s civil-protection pool, which means Brussels foots a large share of the bill and national authorities coordinate the daily sorties. Their Swedish crews and Greek pilots expect a flight home on Saturday, weather and maintenance permitting.

A French Super Puma helicopter wrapped up its assignment earlier this week and has already crossed the Pyrenees, while two Moroccan Canadairs remain on bilateral standby—a reminder that Portugal’s lifeline this summer has stretched well beyond the EU.

What forced Portugal to lean so heavily on outside help

A late-season heatwave, a prolonged drought and—critically—mechanical failures in Portugal’s own contracted aircraft converged to create the perfect storm. The Mecanismo Europeu de Proteção Civil was triggered on 15 August after the country discovered it had no operational heavy bombers of its own. Within 48 hours the EU’s rapid-reaction hub mobilised the Greek and Swedish crews; call-signs that had just finished missions in Sicily and Corsica were rerouted to Portugal.

The Moroccan intervention was arranged through a decades-old Luso-Maghreb cooperation pact, an avenue Lisbon has used sparingly in the past but leaned on this year after its leased Canadairs grounded with engine issues. Meanwhile, satellite mapping from Copernicus has fed real-time data to ANEPC’s command centre in Carnaxide, allowing foreign pilots to drop loads where Portuguese spotters deemed them most effective.

Ground crews you may bump into on a hiking trail

Aircraft grab the headlines, yet nearly 40 overseas firefighters have also joined the line. Between 1 and 15 August, Latvian specialists bunked in Trancoso, a granite hill town that became an improvised logistics hub. Since 16 August a rotating Maltese unit has staged out of Almeirim, a flat stretch of Ribatejo vineyard country where temperatures topped 43 °C earlier this month. Their presence means you might overhear orders shouted in Maltese or Latvian while walking local footpaths, a surprising soundscape for residents who moved here seeking tranquillity.

Officials credit these brigades with freeing up Portuguese volunteer corps for back-to-back night shifts and allowing municipal services to reopen evacuated villages more quickly. The deployment runs through 15 September, which suggests international uniforms will remain a common sight for another two weeks.

Counting the damage: hectares, homes and heartbreak

Portugal entered August with 990 fires on the books; by 23 August, the burn scar had swollen to roughly 250,000 ha, placing 2025 among the three worst summers since systematic records began in 2001. The Arganil inferno alone devoured more than 57,000 ha, including centuries-old chestnut groves that anchor rural economies. To date there have been four confirmed fatalities—one a volunteer firefighter—and dozens of injuries, some still hospitalised in Coimbra and Porto.

Beyond the statistics lies an untallied loss of family-run farms, beekeeping operations and holiday cottages lovingly restored by foreign residents. Insurance claims are already clogging adjusters’ inboxes, and architects warn that rebuilding in designated high-risk zones will face stricter rules after Parliament tightened the wildfire code last spring.

Who pays the bill—and why nobody is spelling it out

Neither the Autoridade Nacional de Emergência e Proteção Civil nor the Ministry of Internal Administration has published a line-by-line cost of flying the Greek, Swedish or Moroccan fleets. We know that Portugal spent €66 M on seasonal aircraft in 2023 and budgeted €84 M for 2024, while a framework contract running through 2026 caps expenditures at €143.2 M plus VAT. Under EU rules, the sending country fronts the crew salary and maintenance, the European Commission co-finances transport and fuel, and the host state covers local logistics. In practice, that means the Greek and Swedish missions are cheaper for Lisbon than the Moroccan arrangement, but the absence of invoices leaves watchdog groups chasing estimates.

Private operator Avincis alone drew €34 M in Portuguese contracts this year, underscoring how outsourcing has become the norm rather than the exception. Critics in Parliament’s Budget Committee call the current model “rent-a-fleet firefighting” and argue it drains funds that could build a permanent air wing.

Will next year look any different?

The government insists it will. By 2026 nine Black Hawk helicopters are scheduled to join the Dispositivo Especial de Combate a Incêndios Rurais, two already delivered and seven more undergoing retrofits in the United States. The Air Force has also ordered two DHC-515 amphibious bombers—the next-generation Canadair—though delivery slots stretch to 2029-2030. In the interim, €16 M has been earmarked for modular retardant kits that transform aging C-130 transports into ad-hoc tankers.

At the European level, the rescEU permanent fleet is expanding: 12 brand-new amphibious planes and 9 heavy-lift helicopters will be stationed across six Member States, Portugal included, starting in 2026. Brussels will pick up 100 % of the acquisition tab, while host nations handle basing costs. The aim is clear—shrink emergency call-outs and keep aerial capacity within two-hour flight time of any Iberian hotspot.

Practical pointers for residents and newcomers

Even as the smoke fades, authorities keep the country on “alerta laranja” whenever winds spike. If you have property near woodland, maintain a 50-m cleared buffer—inspectors can issue fines. Download the Fogos.pt app for push alerts; its English interface is solid. Should evacuations resume, the default assembly point is typically the local junta de freguesia hall, not the parish church. Finally, keep in mind that drones are banned within 8 km of active fires; violators risk steep penalties and confiscation of equipment, something the tech-savvy expat community has occasionally learned the hard way.

The tail end of summer may still bring flames, yet the combination of foreign assistance and calmer forecasts offers a rare commodity this season: a realistic chance to get ahead of the next ignition.