Firefighters battling the huge Portuguese wildfire that has killed at least 64 people and injured more than 150 hope to bring the blaze under control within the next 24 hours, the country’s civil protection authorities said on Tuesday. More than 1,100 firefighters and nine water-dropping aircraft are still tackling the country’s worst ever forest fire, which is thought to have started after lightning struck a tree in the central municipality of Pedrógão Grande on Saturday. “The situation is quite a lot better,” operational commander Vítor Vaz Pinto told the Lusa news agency. “By tonight or Wednesday morning, the fire will be under control.”He added, however, that progress would depend on the wind and the temperature, which was expected to reach 43C (109F) on Tuesday.As Portugal waits to emerge from three days of national mourning, questions are being asked about why the death toll has been so high in a country that suffers wildfires on an annual basis.(guardian)…[+]