More than 1,100 firefighters and 14 water-carrying aircraft participated today, Saturday, in efforts to control a massive forest fire that broke out in the Castelo Branco area of central Portugal, while civil protection authorities said that the hot weather and strong winds would make it difficult to extinguish the fire for several days.

The fire has caused destruction of an estimated area of about 60 square kilometers of forests and shrubs, with smoke from the blaze reaching the Fatima shrine where hundreds of thousands of visitors gathered to see Pope Francis today, Saturday.

Authorities evacuated about 100 residents from the villages as a precaution, but civil defense chief Judy Rato told reporters that there had been no reports of injuries or damage to homes due to the fire.

He also added that the fire, which broke out yesterday afternoon in a remote area, would require "a few days of work" to contain because the land has a lot of combustible materials.

The Portuguese government's weather agency predicted that temperatures would reach 40 degrees Celsius tomorrow, Sunday, in Castelo Branco, up from 38 degrees today, Saturday.

It also issued a red alert for rising temperatures in the capital Lisbon, located 200 kilometers to the southwest, with expectations that temperatures would reach 41 degrees Celsius on the last day of the pope's visit.