Portuguese wildfires encircle Algarve resort town

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LISBON, Aug 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Hundreds of Portuguese firefighters and
soldiers battled ferocious forest fires that threatened to engulf an Algarve
resort town Tuesday, after sweltering temperatures kindled blazes that have
whipped across the region.

A heat wave across Europe sent the mercury above 45 degrees Celsius (113
Fahrenheit) in some areas of Portugal at the weekend, with fire crews
struggling to extinguish wildfires around Monchique that have left 29 people
injured, one seriously.

Fire crews used aeroplanes and helicopters as well as several hundred
vehicles Tuesday in a fresh attempt to contain the blazes, which have raged
for days stoked by strong winds.

The wildfires, which have consumed some 15,000 hectares (76,000 acres) of
forest, crept closer to the enclave overnight, leaving behind a blackened
path of charred houses and incinerated cars.

“There are several main homes affected. But for the moment we are not yet
able to make an assessment,” said Monchique mayor Rui Andre, according to
local media.

A 76-year-old woman has been sent to hospital in Lisbon for treatment due
to the fires, which took hold last week around the Monchique mountain range
at the highest point of the Algarve tourist region.

Authorities had hoped to contain the fires on Monday, but the country’s
civil protection service said that strong winds had revived the flames,
“which immediately took on large proportions”.

The difficulty in bringing the fires under control has raised eyebrows
after the Portuguese authorities brought in various measures in a bid to
avoid a repetition of fires that killed at least 114 people last year.

Despite significant resources, the fire continues to “destroy homes” and
threaten an “urban perimeter,” the National Association of Professional
Firefighters and the Union of Professional Firefighters said in a joint
statement.

In the Valencia region of neighbouring Spain some 2,500 people were driven
from their homes overnight to escape flames that have already swept across
around 1,000 hectares, as fire crews struggled to bring the fires under
control.