WATER TANKS USED AS REFUGE FROM FOREST FIRES

NODEIRINHO Survivors emerged Monday with stories of leaping into water tanks and other dramatic escapes from the forest fires scorching central Portugal, and authorities came under mounting criticism for not doing more to prevent Portugal’s deadliest natural disaster in decades.

More than 2,700 firefighters were still battling Monday to contain several major wildfires in the area northeast of Lisbon, where one blaze that began Saturday killed 63 people, many of them as they tried to flee the flames in their cars. Water-dropping planes from Spain, France and Italy arrived, but they were grounded in some places because thick smoke limited visibility, officials said. Firefighters brought some of the blazes under control, but other wildfires still raced through inaccessible parts of the area’s steep hills, the Civil Protection Agency said.

In Nodeirinho, a tiny hillside village, 84-year-old Marta da Conceicao said residents called the fire services more than 20 times for help on Saturday.

“Nobody came. They were up in the mountain or somewhere else,” she told The Associated Press. “Here it was up to God and the people.”

As the flames licked at her, burning her leg, she and her elderly neighbours survived by jumping into a water storage tank.

Fire experts pointed to a series of shortcomings in Portugal’s strategy of tackling wildfires, even though the summer blazes have been happening for decades.

There is a broad consensus that more work is needed on fire prevention, starting with forest clearing and the creation of fire breaks.

FRANCISCO LEONG / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Locals use buckets to fight a wildfire in Atalaia Fundeira on Monday. More than 2,700 firefighters are still trying to control the blaze in central Portugal that has killed at least 63 people and injured dozens more.