“There are two active fronts and firefighters continue to work to control the fire, but it is far from being under control”, says the mayor of Calheta, Carlos Teles, regarding the fire that has been spreading since Monday night, 9th October in that municipality.
The mayor clarifies that at the moment the flames are burning in the Ovil area and between the Rochão site and the Florenças site, in Arco da Calheta.
Asked if there were any homes at risk, Carlos Teles stated that “at the moment there are no homes at risk”.
The Calheta Volunteer Firefighters received a fire alert at 11:52 pm last night. The mayor considers that due to the hours it broke out, there is a suspicion that it was arson. “There are suspicions, but there is no proof. In the area where it was and at this time of night it is not very normal for a fire to break out, out of nowhere.
Suspicions of arson are very strong, but to achieve this the authorities are working on the ground so much the Judiciary Police as well as other entities with responsibility in the matter. We have to let them work”, he said.
Regarding the amount of resources that are on site, the president of the Calheta municipality says that there are “six fire brigades, 66 men on the ground, the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation”, as well as the municipality itself, through Civil Protection , but still considers that given the size of the fire “the means are never enough”.
“When the situation is complicated, as is the case, resources are never enough, but the truth is that we have six fire brigades here, we have 66 men on the ground, we have the Institute of Forestry and Nature Conservation, we have the City Council , through its Civil Protection, we have the air force, which can only operate during the day. We have a lot of people here on the ground”, he said, adding that “often these men, who put their lives at risk, feel powerless to control the power of the flames.”