About 600 Portuguese firefighters are trying to put out a fire that broke out in the southern tourist region of the Algarve, through which 60 people were evacuated.
One firefighter was taken to hospital with burns, two others were treated on the spot as they inhaled smoke.
The fire started in the municipality of Castro Marim near the Spanish border and by the evening covered almost 3,000 hectares. According to local media, at least one farm building was damaged.
Then the flames rushed south to the coast, and the authorities were forced to block the highway crossing the Algarve from east to west. The fire has already engulfed the city of Tavira.