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!".
