Portugal wildfire latest: Hundreds of firefighters battle blaze outside Lisbon

More than 300 people moved as winds fan flames spread during exceptionally warm weather

At least 17 firefighters and a member of the public have been injured by a wildfire in a national park in Portugal.

About 300 people were moved from a campsite while another 47 were removed from their homes in the wooded area as a precaution.

Planes have been dumping water the blaze, which has caused plumes of smoke to rise from the densely wooded hills 25 miles west of the capital, Lisbon, amid unusually hot weather for October.

The six aerial units are supporting around 700 firefighters on the ground, backed by 225 vehicles.

Andre Fernandes of Portugal’s civil protection agency said the workers were combating the fire on two fronts, and their efforts were being helped by a drop in the winds that had fanned the flames during the night.

“The first hours of the fire were very, very difficult,” he said.

Wildfires blacken swathes of forest every year in Portugal. Last year they killed more than 100 people in what was by far the country’s deadliest summer fire season on record.

That was a wake-up call for authorities, and this year the government has put in place measures to reduce fire deaths, such as using goats to munch flammable undergrowth along key roads.