Firefighters had to empty a ton of waste material being transported by a refuse lorry for recycling when it caught fire by the riverfront in Portimão near the sardine restaurants.
The contents were spilled into the middle of the road, where the firemen were better able to extinguish the blaze which had proved difficult while the burning material was inside the vehicle owned by the company Algar, which is responsible for the treatment of solid waste.
The cause of the fire, which started at 3am, is not known and was dealt with in 60 minutes by two fire engines and seven firemen from the Portimão Bombeiros.
A column of smoke from the container had been spotted by a local resident who alerted the authorities.
