30 men and 15 vehicles are still deployed in Ponta do pargo to fight the fire that started on Monday at 5 am, a fire that continues with an active source in the Fonte do Barro area. For now there are no houses, people or animals threatened, said the Mayor of Calheta this morning, during a point of the situation.
The main concern was to protect people and property. The night was marked by rekindles, nothing serious, said Carlos Teles, who has been following the situation closely. “There is a fire front in the highest areas, which is the Fonte de Barro area, which is a higher area, which is already closer to the border with Porto Moniz and men are currently fighting the fire in that area. zone. Now during the day we will see how this situation will evolve ”.
During the night there was a shift change, this morning there will be another. In addition to the Calheta Volunteer Firefighters and the Madeiran Volunteer Firefighters, the Câmara de Lobos Volunteer Firefighters and the São Vicente and Porto Moniz Volunteer Firemen and the Machico Municipal Firemen are on the ground.
Expectations are that the weather will help today, with temperatures lower than those felt yesterday, according to the Mayor reached 28ºC, although still with some wind. In fact, climatic conditions were decisive for the growth of this fire. Regarding the reasons for not yet being extinguished, the mayor reveals the difficulties on the ground: “This is a fire that started at dawn on Monday at 5 am, which is not normal, it is very difficult to understand how a fire appears at 5 am, with very high temperatures, with a very high wind intensity, with a very low humidity rate, below 30%. For example, yesterday for example we got 28ºC at Ponta do Pargo, so you can imagine how difficult it is for those on the ground to be fighting a fire of this magnitude, the priority being always the housing areas, the populations and their animals , because this is a rural area. (…) It was necessary first of all to protect all these people, this entire population and of course there were several fronts and that made it very difficult for firefighters to act, I was on the ground and I am a witness to that ”.
The Fajã da Ovelha zone, as well as the Fonte do Bispo are out of danger for now.
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