Alerta, with its team of volunteers, shares the weekly fire risks and updates daily during the summer months as well as information on current fires in the Algarve and lower Alentejo. Download Restrictions_RuralFireRiskIndex.pdf for detailed information of restrictions.

Things you can do around your home 

• Keep your land clear.
• Remove any overgrown weeds and grasses.
• Trim trees around the house and touching  the house.
• Clear guttering
• Remove flammables that are close to the house – anything that can potentially burn, like wood stores.

If clearing land, do not use a metal blade , this can spark on stones causing a fire.

Helicopters do use pool water to help put fires out, but cannot put the scoop in if there are objects bobbing in the water .

Keeping safe away from home 

• Do not park cars over long dry grass , the heat of the exhaust can cause a fire.
• Cigarettes, glass bottles, foil  – are all capable of magnifying and reflecting the sun, to create a heat source.
• Do not use a disposable BBQ, even on bare cleaned land. The tempersture beneath a BBQ can reach 400 to 450 F and the ground remains searingly hot for hours after it has been removed.
• Only BBQ in designated areas, not in the countryside .
• Only camp in designated campsites, not wild camping with open fires.

How to prepare, just in case 

For any potential emergency, it pays to have an exit plan, and rehearse it. Allocate who will do what Keep dogs leads and cat baskets in the same place, close to your exit.

If you have cats and will need to catch them, do it sooner rather than at the last minute .

Have a grab bag, ready by the door .

What to put in a grab bag

• Essential documents – passports and medical alerts .
• Insurance documents
• Pet papers, pet passports, and insurance
• Medication, both human and animal
• Pet food
• Torch and spare batteries
• Laptops , phones tablets and chargers
• Charged power packs
• Precious items, things that are irreplaceable to you like photographs and  jewellery.
• Hour change of clothes and nightwear .
• Wash bag
• Water, drinks and snacks
• First aid kit
• Money

And finally 

• Make sure there is fuel in the car. Reverse your car onto your drive or into your garage so you can drive out safely. Do not leave it till the last minute if you have to evacuate – smoke can affect your engine.
• If you have electric gates, have an override key ready just in case the power has failed.
• The more information you can give the 112 operators the better. Know your GPS coordinates, any landmarks or road markers .
• Let someone  know  you have  left the property  to  save emergency services  looking  for  you.

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Words: Debby Burton of Alerta