Monchique fires

[roy4eyes]

Looking out from our balcony the fires on the skyline at Foia look spectacular but lets hope there are no injuries and not too much property destroyed.

[pato]

Looking out from our balcony the fires on the skyline at Foia look spectacular but lets hope there are no injuries and not too much property destroyed.

Or the bowling green eh!

[alf1956]

I hope that they get it under control soon & there is minimal damage to the land & property & hope that there are no injuries or fatalities.

[pete-flint]

They have arrested a bloke and charged him with arson, I should imagine he will get a warm reception in court !

[maccasa]

Amazing yesterday afternoon, the air was very smoky and it was like snow with ash falling. The sun was glowing orange through the smoke and it was definitely chilly (25 ish)

[sanreen]

Is there any ash falling in Carvoeiro today? Thoughts and prayers are with the brave firemen and women trying to get these fires under control. Let's hope it ends soon.

[kelly]

looking at the weather cam it looks clear, hope its under control now. xx

[Farol]

The fire is still raging. there are 3 fronts to it and now 650 firefighters, 200 fire trucks, 10 planes and helicopters. 1 of the fronts is under control but the other 2 are not. Access is the biggest problem. The Pestana Hotel at the Autodrome was evacuated when the fire reached the car park.

Do a web search for INCENDIO MONCHIQUE and look at the news coverage.

This has all the makings of 2003 again.

Yesterday we got covered in ash in Ferragudo.

The smoke was visible at Faro airport - 65km away.

[smudger]

We arrived today and on our journey along A22 about 10.30am, we passed a convoy of 5 fire trucks, 1 water tanker and 2 land rovers all heading for the fire zone, no doubt to relieve a very tired local bunch of fire fighters.

[Alison]

I am horrified that anyone could describe such fires as 'spectacular' or make jokes about what is clearly a devastating situation for a lot of people. There is nothing funny or spectacular about this.

[roy4eyes]

So what adjective would you use to describe a phenomenon whereby there are flames across the whole ridge of Foia and the sky is obliterated by the smoke resulting from the fires ? Interesting, fascinating, noteworthy, remarkable ?

No - it was spectacular !! I don't know where you got 'funny' - I expressed my hopes for no damage to persons or property !!

[Alison]

I suppose my adjective would be horrific. The 'joke' was not in your post.

[pete-flint]

I suppose my adjective would be horrific. The 'joke' was not in your post.

If you are classing my remark as a joke, you have a lot to learn !

[Alison]

Just to be clear - it was Pato's post that seemed to be making light of the sad situation. I'm sure he didn't really mean to be doing that just as I know Roy was not intentionally glorifying the fires and both will be well aware of the devastation and trauma these events have caused both to property and to the people working to contain the situation.

We could get into a discussion about the way media often uses terminology with positive connotations to describe 'bad' events but this probably isn't the appropriate place for that!

[pete-flint]

Thank you Alison, cleared that little mess up nicely.