The night was full of work in the fire in the Serra de Monchique, where there are still two active fire fronts, as confirmed by the CDOS of Faro ao Sul Informação.
This morning, the air assets have already returned to the theater of operations, while the command is making "the terrain reconnaissance, with daylight, to see the area as a whole".
Yesterday, shortly after 20 pm, Vítor Vaz Pinto, operational commander of the Algarve, had said that one of the fronts “is dominated”, and that the “actions of extinction and consolidation” were taking place. But the situation seems to have worsened overnight, especially due to strong winds and high temperatures.
Rui André, mayor of Monchique, who has been on the ground monitoring the situation, said that “the night, which usually brings windows of opportunity, with lower temperatures and more humidity, this time did not help us. We had temperatures of 40 degrees here and so it was very difficult».
According to the mayor, the front that inspires even “greater concern” is the “southern front”.
The national road 266, better known as the Savóia road, remains closed, in the fire zone, while the municipal road 501 was reopened at 4:30 am.
In addition, at the request of the National Civil Protection Authority, the Air Force carried out a reconnaissance and monitoring flight during the night with the C-295 aircraft over the fire risk zones, namely in Monchique, but also in Santarém, Portalegre and Nisa.
Two operatives were on board along with Air Force elements.
The C-295 is an aircraft with image capture equipment, which allows the rapid detection of fires and hazardous locations.
According to the website of the National Civil Protection Authority on the internet, the Monchique fire currently mobilizes 787 operatives, supported by 209 vehicles and six air assets, including four light and medium helicopters and two Fireboss planes. Two Canadairs heavy aircraft are also expected to arrive.
Entering its third day, this is the only large fire still active across the country this morning. Until yesterday evening, this fire in Monchique had already consumed more than 1000 hectares, mostly land with bushes and above all with eucalyptus.
However, according to IPMA, the district of Faro continues this Sunday under Orange warning, due to the persistence of high values of the maximum temperature. As of midnight today, a slight drop in temperatures and the consequent passing of the warning to Yellow is expected.
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