<span style="color: #222222;">In Portuguese, more than 2,000 firefighters have been battling multiple wildfires in central and northern parts of the country amid a heatwave.<br />''<br />''The Portuguese government decided on Saturday to declare a state of contingency between July 11 and 15.<br />''<br />''More than 700 soldiers were dispatched to the area yesterday after the fires destroyed an estimated 1,500 hectares of vegetation, the Civil Protection agency said.<br />''<br />''The blazes come amid an intense heatwave in Portugal, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius this week and expected to rise in the coming days.<br />''<br />''Scientists say extreme weather events such as heatwaves and droughts are linked to the climate crisis. </span><br />