Firefighters are faced with multiple re-ignitions of the Monchique blaze that at lunchtime was reported as 95% under control, click HERE
Early this evening the fire again threatened the outskirts of Monchique with more houses set alight.
Civil Protection confirmed "strong reactivations" around the perimeter of the fire at around 5pm on Monday, with Monchique mayor Rui André adding that the situation in area of the spa was of "great concern".
By 9:00pm the fire had re-entered the perimeter of the town of Monchique and was bearing down on homes.
The operation is "very complex," said Abel Gomes from Faro Civil Protection, adding that the situation, unfortunately, has changed from lunchtime’s optimism to another evening and night of exhausting work.
Shortly after 6:00 pm, Rui André, reported that hotels are at risk and that a front of the fire also is approaching a pedagogical farm of the neighboring county of Silves.
The fire came very close to the Macdonald Monchique Hotel in the Caldas de Monchique spa area, with local firefighters admitting that "it is impossible to fight," due to wind and the sheer size of the problem they have to tackle.
Other fronts are on the hillside of Fóia near the Odelouca Dam and the Silves Mountain Centre and in the Sítio da Cascalheira, in Monchique.
André said that some homes already had burned, but he declined to give a number, "At this moment we have serious problems that we are trying to solve, but things are not very easy.
“After a hard night last night, if we had not had a morning that was covered in smoke that prevented aircraft being deployed, by now we would have another situation."
There is a fire front in Caldas de Monchique, near the thermal baths, which threatens the hotel building and the spa, and another one that is on the north slope of Fóia, the highest point of the Serra de Monchique.
This is another night of work against seemingly impossible odds.
See also: 'Evacuations continue through night as Monchique fire refuses to die down'
Safe Communities Portugal has the following official information for readers:
Monchique fire protection advice from the government:
http://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/monchique-fire-protection-and-advice-from-government/
and download this .pdf file 'Safe Village Safe People - Protecting yourself against rural fires'
