A violent fire that suddenly broke out yesterday evening in the hills to the north of Silves has been controlled and extinguished by an already overstretched fire service.
The blaze that seemed to come from nowhere tore down the slopes to the north of Silves towards the town, starting at around 21:00 on Thursday evening. There already are suggestions from the authorities that the cause may be arson.
Firefighters were involved in tackling the widespread fires between Monchique and Portimão that dominated efforts throughout Thursdsay when news of the the Silves fire diverted significant resources.
The Monchique fire that was deliberately started last Saturday and put out on Sunday evening, flared up on Wednesday and has been raging ever since - one of the three active fronts is between Senhora do Verde and Casas Velhasas in the Portimão district which was showered with embers last night as the sun set behind a veil of smoke.
"One of the fronts has been mastered, another is 60% dominated. Then there is the third, which is fully active as it is in an inaccessible area. But we believe that with the dawn and the return of air support we can soon give another answer," reported the fire service this morning.
Commander Vaz Pinto warned there was not much impact they could make overnight but with air support back in the morning, the fight was back on with 548 fire service personnel involved in this titanic battle, with a further 100 firefighters involved in the separate Silves fire.
After evacuating people from villages and the autodrome’s new Pestana hotel yesterday afternoon, there had been no need for further displacements.
Air support is back as is support from the Algarve population which has been donating water, food, clothing and money to the fire service whose ‘finest hour’ this indeed must represent but whose lack of resources again has been highlighted.
The wind is still causing fires to spread along many fronts, the temperatures should be a little lower today but the determination and bravery of those who volunteer for the fire service has been exemplary.
