5000 hectares have already burned in the mountains of Tavira. The estimate was made earlier by the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, who visited Cachopo to learn about the situation of the fire that has raged in that area of Serra do Caldeirão since yesterday afternoon.
At the moment, there are three more fires active in the Algarve, although, according to the authorities, they have nothing to do with the Tavira fire: one in Golden Soul, another in Monte Francisco, both in the municipality of Castro Marim, and a third in Alportel (municipality of São Brás de Alportel).
Taking into account the maintenance of conditions conducive to the occurrence of fires, the authorities have meanwhile decreed a special state of alert, which has changed to orange level (the second most serious on a scale of four) in the district of Faro, to “increase the readiness of forces by 50 percent and their refreshment”, as there are operatives fighting the fire for long hours.
The Cachopo fire is being fought by 414 operatives, 130 vehicles, six air assets (two heavy helicopters, an Air Force coordination helicopter, two amphibious planes, and a Spanish Canadian plane).
In addition to firefighters from corporations throughout the Algarve, operational from Beja, Setúbal, Évora and Lisbon were also mobilized, as well as five military platoons, which are helping in the aftermath operations.
Jorge Botelho, mayor of Tavira, for his part, said that 17 people had been evacuated from the Castelão and Feiteira hills, near Cachopo, as a precaution. These people were accommodated in nursing homes in Barranco do Velho and Cachopo.
In the area there are several roads cut off for safety reasons due to fire. They are the EN124, between Cachopo and Feiteira, the Municipal Road 397, which connects Cachopo to Tavira, and the National Road 392, cut in the Monte da Ribeira area.
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