More Than 400 Firefighters Spent the Night on an Odemira Wildfire, While a Second Blaze Stranded 500 Rail Passengers on the Linha do Sul
The Odemira fire had two fronts overnight and was still active at dawn, with RTP reporting it had reached São Marcos da Serra in Silves. A fire in Ourique shut the railway to the Algarve for more than five hours.
A wildfire that broke out in the municipality of Odemira on Thursday afternoon was still not under control at dawn on Friday, with 439 firefighters and 149 vehicles on the ground at 05:45, according to the national civil protection authority's public incident page. A second fire, in Ourique, shut the main railway line to the Algarve for more than five hours.
Odemira: two fronts and a burnt-out fire engine
The alert came at 16:51 on Thursday. The fire started in scrub and cork oak near the village of Nave Redonda, in the parish of Sabóia, in the south-east of the municipality, close to the border with the Algarve. The Alentejo Litoral civil protection command told Lusa that by 18:40 it was spreading "with some intensity" because of strong wind and difficult access. By 22:00 it had two active fronts, 342 firefighters and 115 vehicles, and had "come close to threatening some houses", although none had been damaged and no one had been hurt at that stage. Seven aircraft worked on it during the afternoon.
Shortly before midnight, the operations officer of the civil protection authority (ANEPC), Paulo Santos, said two firefighters from the Portimão brigade had been slightly injured in an accident involving their fire engine, which was then consumed by the flames. He described the fire as moving with "great speed and intensity", driven by dry vegetation and steep terrain, and asked residents to follow the instructions of the authorities, whose reconnaissance teams decide on any evacuation.
RTP's overnight radio bulletins reported at 01:00 that the fire had reached São Marcos da Serra, in the municipality of Silves in the Algarve, and at 02:00 that about 450 firefighters were fighting the Odemira and Silves fire. A spokesperson for the Alentejo Litoral command confirmed early on Friday that reinforcements had been sent and that the flames were still not dominated.
Ourique: the Linha do Sul closed from 17:49 to 23:00
A separate fire in scrub, pasture and eucalyptus broke out at 17:10 on Thursday near Laborela, in the parish union of Panóias and Conceição, in the municipality of Ourique. Because it was burning alongside the railway, rail traffic on the Linha do Sul was suspended at 17:49 between the stations of Ermidas do Sado and Funcheira. CP said on social media that trains were running again at about 23:00.
Paulo Santos told Lusa that about 500 people were held for several hours in trains stopped at Ermidas do Sado and Funcheira, among them at least one Alfa Pendular and two Intercidades services, as well as two freight trains. The Ourique fire was declared dominated at 23:51, with 133 firefighters still on site after midnight to guard against flare-ups.
A firefighter seriously injured in Resende
In the north, a firefighter from the Resende brigade, in the district of Viseu, was seriously injured on Thursday night when a large tree fell on her while she was fighting a fire in scrub near Barrô. That fire, reported at 20:36, still had one active front at 06:20 on Friday, with 221 personnel deployed. The Tâmega e Sousa command said no populated areas were at risk.
What to do if you live or travel nearby
The live position of every incident, and the number of people and machines on it, is published on the ANEPC website at prociv.gov.pt. Anyone travelling between Lisbon and the Algarve by train on Friday should check CP's service information before setting out, as the line runs through the area affected on Thursday. In an emergency, call 112.
