Madrid (Spain), 15 August (LaPresse/AP) – The Portuguese government today requested assistance from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a firefighting force that European countries can call upon in times of need. The news comes after Spain received two Canadair aircraft yesterday after requesting EU assistance for the first time to help fight the fires. Last week, Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Albania requested assistance from the EU's firefighting force to help tackle forest fires. The force has already been activated as many times this year as it was during the entire fire season last year. In Portugal today, around 4,000 firefighters are battling seven large fires that are still active. The authorities have extended the state of alert until Sunday as high temperatures are expected to continue throughout the weekend.
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