Portugal’s public prosecution service has filed charges against the Quinta do Lago barman who allegedly started several fires which consumed large sections of the Monchique countryside last summer, stopping just short of the International Autodrome in the neighbouring council area of Portimão.
The prosecution charged the 49-year-old on seven counts of deliberately starting fires which caused the most extensive blaze of 2016 in the Algarve region.
The public prosecutor said that on September 3, 2016, the defendant set fires in the Monchique area, after stopping his car several times along the road and using a lighter to ignite the tinder dry scrubland “on a very hot and dry day, with maximum temperatures between 32°C and 40°C and a relative humidity of less than 30%.”
According to the charges, "the fires that the defendant lit caused several blazes, some of which were extensive, consuming thousands of hectares of scrubland and forests, causing losses of several million euros and forcing the evacuation of dozens of residents and guests and of a local hotel (at the Autodrome).
“About 1,700 firefighters, 200 military personnel, 570 vehicles, helicopters, medium-size aircraft and water bomb planes were involved in fighting the fires."
Firemen from units across the Algarve were joined by colleagues from Beja, Évora and Lisbon plus the help of three Army platoons.
The investigation into the man’s activities was conducted by the Portimão criminal investigation department which delegated it to the Judicial Police in Portimão.
The defendant has been in pre-trial detention since his arrest last summer, presumably for his own safety.
See also: 'Monchique fire - arsonist arrested'
