Alvor fire “dangerously close to hotel complex”

Beachgoers watched in horror at the weekend as a fire near the Prainha Clube development rapidly filled the area with dense smoke.
Firefighters from Portimão, Lagoa and Lagos rushed to the scene, and within half an hour the blaze had been brought under control.
According to news reports, it had been dangerously close to the development’s hotel which is one of the reasons for three stations racing to the scene with 26 men.
Now, investigations are ongoing as, like many summer fires, this one seems to have been started on purpose.
The situation was not helped by “various piles of garden detritus and wood” on the land in question. Police are now said to be in contact with the owners of the land, to force them to clean it up.
The fire, on one of August’s busiest weekends, was one of 84 registered between the hours of midnight and 7pm on Sunday.
Elsewhere, the worst fire of the day was in Mangualde, where over 100 firemen fought flames in an area of forest close to people’s homes.
On the same day, the Portuguese Safety Association released data to show that every year as many as 10,000 urban fires are reported, causing an average of 60 deaths per year.