Major wildfire breaks out in Loulé, forcing closure of EN2

A major wildfire broke out near Besteiros, in the municipality of Loulé, this Tuesday morning (June 23), prompting a large-scale emergency response and the closure of the national EN2 road in both directions.

According to Portugal’s Civil Protection Authority, the fire was reported at 10.49am in a rural area to the northeast of the town of Loulé, near Ameixial, and quickly spread across a large area, fuelled by strong winds.

By early afternoon, over 250 firefighters, supported by 77 vehicles and eight aerial resources, had been mobilised to tackle the blaze.

Speaking to Lusa, a source from the Algarve Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command said the fire was proving difficult to contain due to wind conditions.

“The fire is covering a large area because the wind is very strong, with spot fires occurring up to 500 metres away,” the source said.

As a precautionary measure, authorities closed the EN2 at 11.25am, disrupting traffic through the area.

Although there are homes in the vicinity of the fire, Civil Protection said no evacuations had been ordered at the time of writing.

The wildfire comes as the district of Faro remains under elevated fire risk conditions, with high temperatures, dry vegetation and strong winds increasing the potential for rapid fire spread across parts of the Algarve.

Source: LUSA

Michael Bruxo

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.