Day 6 of the terrible fires which started in the Serra do Monchique last Friday and we thought all the action had headed south towards Silves. However, I looked out of the window to a huge plume of smoke which looked very close. A few locals also messaged me to ask if I knew anything about it. This being after I have spent the last few days chasing the fires to provide live footage via our village Facebook page to update the locals and others with an interest in São Marcos da Serra. So I jumped on the Quad bike and went off in search of the fire. It took a while to get to a vantage point as I didn’t want to be down wind of the fire for obvious reasons.
The wind was very strong which was really fanning the flames but as with previous days it was pushing the fire away from the village. Unfortunatly it was pushing it south towards the towns (and area between) Silves and Messines. Tonight, this fire is now causing a huge problem for the residents in its path and hope it can be yet again tamed before causing any serious damage.
Here are a few pictures I took from my vantage point. Watching the planes, especially the Canadair CL-415 swooping down was a fantastic sight, just a shame its in these horrible circumstances.
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Once more great photos of this ever evolving tragedy , I hope these can be used to document and bring about change
Thank you for telling the story with great photography. It clearly shows the devastation and the risks that the airdrop planes take to help quell the inferno.
Thanks for the photos they are brilliant although very sad & scary for a lot of People 6 of copurse risky for You. <3
Very scary, however, for me, I was always a very safe distance and not in the winds direction as I could see first hand just how quick it spreads.