Portugal requested the loan of two water-bombing planes on Monday as winds revived massive wildfires in a central region where dozens of people were killed in huge blazes in 2017.
Portugal's civil protection agency had said on Monday morning the wildfires were "90 percent controlled" but officials said they were fanned back into life when winds picked up in the afternoon.
Later in the evening, officials said they were making some progress against the blazes again but that it was slow work.
"During the morning it was practically controlled but weather conditions did not allow a consolidation of the situation," Prime Minister Antonio Costa told journalists.
In response to a demand from Lisbon, Spain sent two heavy amphibious aircraft to help fight the blazes which broke out on Saturday amid scorching temperatures, the interior ministry said.
Nearly 1,300 firefighters backed by 17 water-dropping aircraft were deployed to fight the blazes in the heavily forested Castelo Branco region, 120 miles northeast of the capital Lisbon.
Thirty-nine people have been injured since the wildfires broke out on Saturday, including several firefighters who were hurt on Monday, the civil protection agency said.
Most suffered smoke inhalation but a civilian was evacuated to a Lisbon hospital with serious burns.
As night fell, Portugal's civil protection agency commander Pedro Nunes said the flames were "losing intensity" and the situation seemed to be "evolving favorably" once again.
Exhausted firefighters poured water over their heads to cool off as temperatures neared 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). (AFP)
Photography by Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images
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