Firefighters are fighting fires in the higher areas of the municipality. Mayor Célia Pessegueiro is monitoring the work.
The fire is raging along both banks of the Ponta do Sol river. According to the mayor Célia Pessegueiro, the most critical area is in the parish of Ponta do Sol, in the Lombada area, but there is no indication that it has yet spread to the parish of Canhas.
The person responsible for municipal civil protection explains that they are monitoring the situation calmly, especially because there are many areas that have already been cleared, without dense undergrowth and that can serve as a buffer. This is after a more complicated start to the night, when it was thought that the fire could reach the houses. “That didn’t happen. Fortunately.”
In the Quinta area, where there is a lot of agricultural land, farmers have been monitoring the progress of the flames that have descended from the mountains since yesterday. The objective today, with the operators on the ground, is to try to stop the spread.
“Whenever the firefighters can’t do anything else where they are, they go down the slope and come to the population. There you have it, we never know the size and strength of the fire, but for now we are calm.”
The mayor once again warns about the closed pedestrian trails, such as the Nova and Moinho levadas, and repeats the recommendations for conscious water consumption.