"Everything has been put out," an official from the fire and civil protection services, Joao Abrantes, told the Lusa news agency.

Raging fires that have decimated forests around Monchique, in the south, and Castelo Branco, in central Portugal, were brought under control Saturday, he said, although hundreds of firefighters and troops remained on watch in order to prevent a resurgence of the fires.

Across the worst hit areas of southern Portugal, close to 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres), or more than 50 per cent of the region's forestland, have been destroyed since August 3, according to provisional estimates compiled by the Diario de Noticias newspaper.

On August 12 Portugal's forest administration said close to 215,000 hectares of forest and bush had been destroyed by fires across the country since the start of the year, beating the previous record of 182,500 hectares, in 1991.

More than 18 people have died in the recent wildfires, which have caused an estimated one billion euros in damages.

TERRA.WIRE