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20-year-old arrested for setting fire to forest in Portugal

Xinhua, August 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

A 20-year-old Portuguese man has been arrested for setting fire to a forest "for fun", police said on Tuesday in a statement.

The suspect used a lighter to start two fires as he rode a bicycle through forest paths near a residence area in Povoa de Varzim, around 350 km north of Lisbon on May 18-19, said the statement.

One of the fires devoured around 117 hectares of forest, which was densely covered with eucalyptus and pine, according to the statement.

Portugal has been ravaged by forest fires lately. Local media reported that 9,000 hectares of forest were destroyed in the last 10 days.

Portugal's national commander for relief effort Jose Manuel Moura on Tuesday called for more caution in use of fire during the summer season.

"Every day there are dozens, hundreds of people who in a negligent or careless manner or by malice, place fire on our forests," he told Portuguese Lusa News Agency.

Manuel Moura said that 90 percent of forest fires were caused by human error.

Police said last week that 48 people had been detained for arson by Aug. 6, nine more than in the same period last year. Endi