A man was killed by his bulldozer while helping to fight wildfires in Portugal, officials said on Wednesday. The 65-year-old was trying to escape the flames in the northern municipality of Mirandela when he fell from the vehicle and was run over, according to Commander Paulo Santos of the National Civil Protection Authority.

Portugal is battling five major wildfires as of August 19, with more than 2,700 firefighters, 902 ground resources, and at least 35 aircraft deployed.

A heatwave is continuing to affect the Iberian Peninsula. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to battle ongoing blazes and towns have been evacuated. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited affected regions to meet with the heads of emergency teams.

The fires have ravaged small, sparsely populated towns in the country's northwest, forcing locals in many cases to act as firefighters. About 2,382 square miles have burned across Spain and Portugal.

A man was killed while helping fight wildfires that have been scorching Portugal, the country’s civil protection service said Wednesday, bringing the death toll from the fires to three. The man, who worked for a company hired to help the northern municipality of Mirandela fight the fires,

LISBON: The fires raging across Portugal claimed their first victim Friday (Aug 15), when the former mayor of the eastern town of Guarda died fighting fires there, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced.

A man has died after being run over by a bulldozer he was operating while fighting wildfires in Portugal, bringing the death toll in the country to three, officials have said.