Monchique fire put out after four hour operation + update

Paul Rees 31 May 2018

bombeiros A fire that started at 1:33 on Monday afternoon in the Monchique area was tackled by 130 firefighters with help from aerial support.

The flames tore through scrubland in the Ribeira das Canas area, near the county border with Portimão.

Strong winds hampered efforts to quell the flames but the fire finally was declared extinguished at 5:35pm.

The authorities said that no buildings were damaged or people injured, with the exception of one member of the GNR who received a slight wound.

Update
A 70-year-old British resident has been made an official suspect following the Monchique fire that destroyed 16 hectares.

The resident has asked permission to have a bonfire which got out of control as inadequate precautions had been taken.

Comments

+2 #13 AL 2018-06-03 22:09

Quoting Jack Reacher:

Quoting Brandon:
Quoting Charly:
Please Natasha Bund, stay polite and don't attack "the wrong person". Let's at least be civilised !

Who, exactly is the "right" person to as you put it to "attack", Jack Reacher first brought up the unsubstantiated "retarded" description in his comment and as some of his comments make no logical sense,

i.e. "I am glad to see the governments land management plan is utterly useless".

He obviously lays himself open to accusations of making irrational comments or being a troll.

So a brit phones up the bombeiros and has a conversation in pigeon portuguese and says he wants to light a fire on a windy day. Permission is supposedly given and 16 ha goes up in smoke. Who is to blame? The bombeiros,the brit with the matches or the landowner who hasnt removed all his scrub (doesnt have to now as its all burnt). That to me is typical banal how it is in this country...hardly sound land management and pure incompotence bordering on retarded.

Hey Jack as far as making no sense and coming up with silly comments on this thread, you're on fire!!!

-3 #12 Jack Reacher 2018-06-03 18:55

Quoting Brandon:

Quoting Charly:
Please Natasha Bund, stay polite and don't attack "the wrong person". Let's at least be civilised !

Who, exactly is the "right" person to as you put it to "attack", Jack Reacher first brought up the unsubstantiated "retarded" description in his comment and as some of his comments make no logical sense,

i.e. "I am glad to see the governments land management plan is utterly useless".

He obviously lays himself open to accusations of making irrational comments or being a troll.

So a brit phones up the bombeiros and has a conversation in pigeon portuguese and says he wants to light a fire on a windy day. Permission is supposedly given and 16 ha goes up in smoke. Who is to blame? The bombeiros,the brit with the matches or the landowner who hasnt removed all his scrub (doesnt have to now as its all burnt). That to me is typical banal how it is in this country...hardly sound land management and pure incompotence bordering on retarded.

+3 #11 AL 2018-06-03 16:57

Quoting Jack Reacher:

Come on which retarded arsonist started it this time. I am glad to see the governments land management plan is utterly useless and a complete waste of petrol for chainsaws and strimmers.

It is always easy to criticise while hiding behind your PC. The fire got out of control due to high winds and possibly due to inexperience on this man's part. There's been a lot of burning in late May even when windy, it's just a matter of taking the right precautions. So Jack why is it a waste of time and waste of petrol to clear combustible material from the country side? Or is this one of your comments that gets typed without giving it proper thought?

+1 #10 Brandon 2018-06-03 15:32

Quoting Charly:

Please Natasha Bund, stay polite and don't attack "the wrong person". Let's at least be civilised !

Who, exactly is the "right" person to as you put it to "attack", Jack Reacher first brought up the unsubstantiated "retarded" description in his comment and as some of his comments make no logical sense,

i.e. "I am glad to see the governments land management plan is utterly useless".

He obviously lays himself open to accusations of making irrational comments or being a troll.

0 #9 Charly 2018-06-03 10:00

Please Natasha Bund, stay polite and don't attack "the wrong person". Let's at least be civilised !

+4 #8 Kev Ansty 2018-06-02 14:12

Quoting Jack Reacher:

Quoting Natasha Bund:
The poor man who started the fire was not a retarded arsonist... he was simply a very unlucky soul who is now no doubt wishing he hadn't taken any steps to 'clear the property of combustible material'... if anyone is retarded here, Jack Reacher, it's you!

If the perpertrator ignored the advice of the bombeiros and lit his pile of flammable tinder in strong winds then he is accountable. Period. Community service and pay for the damages is the least he should be required to do.

Jack Reacher should "reach" for his spectacles before making inane and inaccurate comments, nowhere does it say that the person who started the fire ignored anyone's advice, only that he had permission to have a bonfire, which if true is something that I find incomprehensible in late May.

+1 #7 Barney 2018-06-02 13:54

If as the update states this person did have permission to have a fire, I find it hard to understand why he was given that permission. I know it has not been particularly hot in April and May but we've had winds that have dried the scrub land out so therefore it is probably going to be inflammable, which has been proven by what has occurred.
He may well have been negligent but I do think that giving permission for people to have fires in late May is asking for trouble.

-2 #6 Jack Reacher 2018-06-01 15:50

Quoting Natasha Bund:

The poor man who started the fire was not a retarded arsonist... he was simply a very unlucky soul who is now no doubt wishing he hadn't taken any steps to 'clear the property of combustible material'... if anyone is retarded here, Jack Reacher, it's you!

If the perpertrator ignored the advice of the bombeiros and lit his pile of flammable tinder in strong winds then he is accountable. Period. Community service and pay for the damages is the least he should be required to do.

-1 #5 Martyn Davies 2018-06-01 15:04

The emphasis here has to be on this Brit. old boy 'asking for permission' - so he did the right thing at the wrong time. Tens of thousands of fires - up to 300 a day in summer - are being lit by Portuguese each year. Does anyone giving these permissions study wind and weather forecasts beforehand or just take the easy option and say yes? A useful website is accuweather which gives winds and directions. Ideally any Bombeiros / Municipal permission would instruct the applicant to get a wind forecast of less than say 5 knots BEFORE lighting their permitted fire.

+1 #4 Natasha Bund 2018-06-01 11:16

The poor man who started the fire was not a retarded arsonist... he was simply a very unlucky soul who is now no doubt wishing he hadn't taken any steps to 'clear the property of combustible material'... if anyone is retarded here, Jack Reacher, it's you!

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