Two specialist aeroplanes and two helicopters set about dousing a fire that broke out late this afternoon in the Ribeira Grande area of the Monchique mountains.
The fire started in an area that is inaccessible for vehicles so the option to send in airborne firefighting craft was the only one available to fire chiefs. As the fire spread, men and 39 vehicles were able to tackle one area between Monchique and Aljezur to the west.
As night fell over the Algarve, the airplanes and helicopters were grounded and are now waiting for early dawn light to recommence their efforts.
If the fire spreads to any further areas that can be accessed by more land-based firefighting vehicles, crews are on stand-by with machinery already tasked with clearing access paths through scrub and eucalyptus.
The wind is north-westerly and fairly brisk, spreading the fire with speed across the uninhabited zone.
Commander Vaz Pinto, head of Civil Protection for the region, said that eucalyptus and other trees debris left by foresters is not helping matters, adding that the major fire will no doubt continue its path through the night but that there are no homes in the area.
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UPDATE from The Portugal Resident: After almost 12 hours, the fire was finally classified as being in the "resolution phase". The thwack-thwack-thwack of helicopters overhead as they dropped water scooped up from barragens (nearby dams), abated shortly before dawn as the situation was brought under control. Noticiasaominuto website reports that the threat of flames spreading has been stymied by the work of JCB's clearing forestland, and now it is just down to a general dampening operation.
As one resident commented on Facebook: "Obrigada bombeiros!".
Comments
One of the more bizarre stories told to us by friends in the Pedrogao Grande area was of a Dynasty that had repeatedly 'owned' their local Freguesia. Handing the Presidency down from Uncle to Nephew over the years then, at the end of the latter's term reinvoking the Freguesia Parish Council. The 'patsy' then installed as President of the Fregusia oddly subservient to the newly invigorated Council. Just coincidentally run by the very rich and influential Forester - the previous President.
It would make sense from a safety aspect for both the the fire fighters and the residents of Monchique for the Camera to make it a legal obligation for landowners to obtain a permit and hand over a refundable deposit before they are allowed to cut and remove logs from their land, said permit to cost the landowner enough money to cover the expense of the Camera in monitoring the operation and the refundable deposit to ensure that the landowner has removed all the tree trimmings and detritus normally left behind, thereby making the area safe and clean after the logging work is completed.
The owners of the trees being removed, who quite often don't live in the area, are being allowed to put their profits before the safety of the firefighters and the people who do live in the area.
By using a permit and deposit system the Camera would then know when and where logging was happening and it would enable them to check out the area both during and after the logging operation to ensure that the public roads were not being damaged by the heavy trucks removing the logs and also on completion of the logging that that the area had not been left as a potential fire hazard.
This method of permit control would be self financing, it would cost far less than actually fighting the fires and prevent the firefighters and local residents being put at unnecessary risk.
Anyone living in the Forest Reserves and therefore difficult or impossible to see through the smoke depends on the Civil Protection maps. Which come from the relevant Ministry.
A couple of years ago, renting from a friend up in the hills east of Coimbra - we had a near escape with a raging forest fire. Luckily stopped in time but our friend telling us afterwards he had heard that - up their way - a forest resident can be known about by local Bombeiros and their Municipal but have their house unprotected by airborne water dousers because the non-local Civil Defence do not have their house marked on their maps. The property being burnt to ashes.
Those with memories of a large Algarvian Fire a couple of years ago will recall the Bombeiros involved publicly criticising the Civil Defence for focusing their, the Fire Brigade efforts, on defending certain properties and letting others burn. Which perhaps confirms this practice to us foreigners.
I live near a busy logging area which is fast becoming blighted by the tons of trimmings left lying around after they have logged,not to mention all the bottles and food litter,oil containers and cigarette debris they leave behind too.
Add to that the imense damage that their presence causes to our roads.It is probably time for the authorities to begin to regulate their activities more closely particularly if their debris was felt by commander Pinto to be a contributory or hazardous factor in this fire.