The fire that broke out this afternoon in the Monchique mountains, in the Maia and Picota area, has been "under resolution" since around 19:20 pm, according to the website of the National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection.
Despite everything, at this time there are still 336 operators on site, supported by 107 vehicles, including some crawler machines. As night fell, the air assets, which reached around ten and a half, withdrew.
Fire source told the Sul Informação that “we still have a lot of work ahead of us through the night”.
The fire started at 14:51 in an area of woods and eucalyptus trees, in Maia and Picota, as the mayor of Monchique told our newspaper.
The flames evolved from north to south, going down the slope to Fornalha. In between, there are several houses, "none is at risk", added Paulo Alves.
However, as the mayor said, everything was prepared in case it was necessary to "remove people", in a joint action by the GNR, the City Council and the Parish Council.
«This was a very explosive fire, it started with a very great force, in no time it was already burning strongly», added president Paulo Alves, in his statements to the Sul Informação.
In fact, the alert for this fire, according to the Civil Protection website, was given at 14:51 pm, but it was shortly after 15:00 pm and a thick column of smoke was already visible from a great distance.
Mayor Paulo Alves confirmed to our newspaper that the area where the fire is raging had already been destroyed in the great fire of 2018.
Comments