More than 1,800 firefighters were battling dozens of wildfires, including 14 which raced out of control, in the thick-wooded centre and north of the country, the civil protection service said.

About 500 vehicles and nine platoons of soldiers supported the fire crews.

The Forest Fire Prevention Agency said all but one of mainland Portugal's 18 administrative districts faced either a "maximum" or "very high" risk of fires on Monday, the two highest levels.

By comparison on Sunday nine districts faced a "maximum" risk of wildfires and two a "very high" risk.

Firefighters urged rural homeowners to clear areas of 50 metres (165 feet) around their houses to keep fires from reaching the buildings and to avoid using any farm equipment which could set off sparks on the tinder-dry land.

They also asked campers to avoid starting fires in woodlands and warned drivers and train passengers against throwing cigarette butts out of windows.

Blazes broke out across the country, facing its worst drought since 1945, on Friday with the return of scorching temperatures.

A fireman died late Saturday fighting the flames near the northern city of Vila Real and one of his colleagues suffered smoke inhalation and was hospitalized, local officials said.

The death came less than 24 hours after a firefighter was killed when the vehicle he was driving to a blaze overturned.

In total eight firefighters have died battling wildfires this year, more than during the previous two years combined.

The head of the League of Portuguese Firefighters, Duarte Caldeira, blamed severe drought conditions, which cause wildfires to spread faster, and a lack of adequate equipment for the high number of firefighter deaths.

"The worrying number of firefighters who have been killed or injured while battling the flames proves that the risks associated with forest fires are getting greater," he told daily newspaper Jornal de Noticias.

Portugal has a largely volunteer firefighting force and firemen are often seen battling blazes wearing T-shirts instead of specialized protective gear.

Two elderly men have been killed this year while trying to protect their properties from the flames.

Wildfires have destroyed up to 118,000 hectares (292,000 acres) of forest and scrubland so far this year in Portugal, according to government estimates, compared to 130,000 hectares for all of 2004.

Experts blame human negligence, the abandonment of rural areas and a focus on planting profitable but highly combustible tree species such as fast-growing eucalyptus and pine for the increase in wildfires.

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