Forest fire rages in Portugal's Algarve

A wildfire in the Portuguese Algarve, one of Europe’s top summer holiday spots, raged out of control for a third day today, but officials said tourist resorts were not in danger.

Antonio Vieira, a spokesman for the National Fire Co-ordination Centre in Lisbon, said the fire was more than 12 miles away from the southern beaches.

“The firemen, troops and police on duty down there are on the alert for any signs of danger (to tourist areas) and we are watching that very carefully,” he said.

Almost 300 firefighters, 60 soldiers, and 90 firefighting vehicles, as well as three water-dumping planes and four helicopters were fighting the blaze in hills between Aljezur and Monchique, about 120 miles south of Lisbon.

Vieira said reinforcements could be called in if forecast high temperatures and strong winds appeared.

Emergency crews evacuated about 300 people from Marmalete yesterday after the fire veered towards the Algarve village. Residents were allowed to return home during the night.

The Forest Service has estimated that more than 100,000 hectares have burned in a spate of wildfires since the end of July, killing 15 people.

A heat wave and strong, dry winds have fuelled the flames.