A fire that ripped through scrubland and fields near Budens, Vila do Bispo, was finally put out last night.
The fire, which began on Monday afternoon, had three main areas and at one point threatened the woodland at Barão de S. João.
The fire also came dangerously close to a couple of houses with the occupants leaving it until the last minute before leaving, "It is unfortunate that people do not fulfill their obligation to clear the scrub within 50 metres of their house," commented one fire chief as his team was diverted to save properties rather than the source of the flames.
Around 74 bombeiros were involved in the early stages of this autumn blaze and 20 vehicles were used in support in tackling the fire which, although late in the year, was not surprising as the ground, scrub and foliage are still dry.
A helicopter was used to drop water until ground reinforcements arrived.
When the fire finally was declared 'extinguished' in the early hours there had been 90 people involved with 28 vehicles from firefighting units from several happy-to-help council areas of the Algarve.
The danger period for forest fires in Portugal is officially over for 2014 and the numbers in late September showed that the cooler than normal summer helped keep the national figure to 7,000 reported fires, the lowest for ten years.
The amount of land damaged by fire was lower too with a third less burnt this year than last but landowners still lost 19,021 hectares.
The interim report from the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forestry shows that between January 1 and September 15, there were 6,958 fires, less than half the number seen last year, and the area lost was a fraction of the extraordinary loss of 138,393 hectares in 2013.
The dry autumn weather means that fire risk is still higher than normal for the time of year as the Algarve waits for it seasonal rains to dampen down the land and promote green growth.
