Portugal’s Hills Burn Hotter as Soldiers Confront Advancing Wildfires

Portugal’s record-breaking heat is once again turning hillsides orange, and the Army has stepped out of the barracks to keep the flames away from villages, highways, and vineyards. More soldiers, bulldozers, and surveillance patrols are now on duty than at any time since the catastrophic fires of 2017—welcome news for anyone who owns a rural home, plans a weekend in the Douro, or relies on country roads to reach the beach.

A season foreigners can’t ignore

Even if you live in a Lisbon apartment, the smoke-filled skies, rail delays, and occasional motorway closures make fire season everybody’s problem. Holidaymakers headed north this week noticed ash drifting across the A24, while wine investors in the Upper Douro nervously watched the charred slopes of Tabuaço. Insurance experts warn that non-resident property owners are often under-insured for wildfire, and relocation agencies have begun adding “fire-preparedness walkthroughs” to their standard service. Climate scientists point out that 2025 has already logged more red-alert days than the entire 2022 season, underscoring Portugal’s position as Europe’s fifth-most fire-prone country.

Military muscle on the ground

The Army’s green convoys are no longer a rare sight. According to the latest briefing, 3,269 soldiers, 1,413 vehicles, and 35 daily patrols have been deployed across 16 districts. Three specialised engineering detachments—equipped with heavy tracked machines—are busy carving 600-metre containment strips outside Freches in Trancoso. Meanwhile, post-fire mop-up platoons work overnight in Siralelhos and Chavães to extinguish “smouldering material” that can re-ignite days later. Patrols are divided among the ICNF protocol, the Revelles Plan, and municipal agreements, giving commanders the flexibility to move troops when wind shifts threaten new fronts. Since June, military teams have clocked 254,150 km and 8,605 mission hours, a 13% rise on last year’s pace.

Trancoso & Tabuaço: the two flashpoints

Trancoso, in Guarda district, endured “five terrifying days” that scorched up to 14,000 hectares, sweeping through 11 rural freguesias and forcing the evacuation of Terrenho. Mayor Amílcar Salvador has asked Lisbon for an emergency fund to help castanha producers and sheep farmers whose pastures now resemble lunar landscapes. South-west in Tabuaço, steep river valleys kept firefighters on foot while bulldozers opened night-time firebreaks. The local council believes the blaze was deliberately set, but quick action meant no homes burned, and only one family had to relocate temporarily. Both municipalities praised the Army’s 24-hour surveillance and the machine operators who “saved entire hamlets by moving dirt faster than the flames.”

How the mission is organised

The military’s wildfire playbook has evolved. A network of surveillance drones, ground sensors, and hilltop sentries feeds data to the joint command centre run by Proteção Civil. Each morning, planners decide where to station the ten ICNF patrols, the sixteen Revelles units, and the nine municipal teams. The strategy is prevention first—catch a spark before it becomes a column of smoke. When that fails, rescaldo squads take over, dousing embers so civilian firefighters can redeploy to the next outbreak. July’s announcement by the Chief of the Defence Staff to mobilise 6,000 service members from all branches means the Army may soon be supported by the Navy’s helicopter-borne water buckets and the Air Force’s upgraded C-130 retardant kits.

The debate: soldiers vs. firefighters

Not everyone is convinced boots and berets are the answer. Civil-protection veterans argue that troops often arrive with limited front-line training, spending hours “circling perimeters” rather than engaging the flame front. Legal constraints also limit what soldiers can do; under Portuguese law, only certified firefighters may operate high-pressure hoses. Defence Minister Nuno Melo counters that the Army’s role is to “clear, protect, and hold,” freeing firefighters for the attack phase. Critics reply that coordination still suffers: the GNR, ANEPC, and local bombeiros occasionally issue overlapping orders, leading to double-counted resources and idle equipment. A parliamentary panel has scheduled hearings on whether the military should receive mandatory wildfire modules during basic training.

Staying safe: a quick checklist for residents

• Keep gas canisters and firewood piles at least 10 m from walls.• Download the ‘fogos.pt’ app for live incident maps and evacuation alerts.• Register any controlled burn with your Junta de Freguesia—fines are steep.• Store copies of property deeds and insurance policies off-site or in cloud storage.• Invest in a basic rooftop sprinkler system if your home borders forest.

What’s next

Meteorologists predict another dry, windy fortnight, especially in the interior north. That means soldiers will remain on heightened readiness, and tourists may continue to see convoys rumbling along the EN-2. For expatriates, the takeaway is simple: treat fire season the way you would hurricane season in Florida or typhoon season in Asia—plan ahead, stay informed, and don’t assume the flames respect municipal boundaries. If the Army’s expanded deployment holds, Portugal could finish 2025 with fewer hectares lost than the horror years of 2017 and 2022, but as one commander put it, “Machines and men can only do so much; the rest is decided by wind and rain.”