{"id":67572,"date":"2022-01-28T23:06:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T23:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eco123.info\/en\/?p=67572"},"modified":"2022-01-31T09:27:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T09:27:16","slug":"thank-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eco123.info\/en\/news\/thank-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the night of Sunday, 5 August 2018, a swath of fire crawled over the Picota peak, from the north to the south of the Algarve, up the entire mountain and back again, destroying our beautiful mixed forest and gardens in Esgravatadouro near Caldas de Monchique on the southern side. Friends helped us fight the fire with buckets and hoses. Some of the fires would keep flaring up, but we didn\u2019t give in nor did we accept to be evacuated. When the police did evacuate us we returned half an hour later to continue fighting the fire. No fire engines to be seen anywhere. By now we\u2019re used to having to help ourselves. We couldn\u2019t allow our trees, our forest to just burn down. Thanks to this half of the forest, with pines and cork oaks, cedars and linden trees, carob and olive trees survived by the courage of a few to defy the forest fire, to face down the fire with determination. This was the worst week of our lives: between Friday 3 and 10 August 2018. The fires would rise up in a blaze again and again, day and night. The wind was blowing at high speed. Conditions were extremely dry and very hot. The air was stifling. We were wearing gas masks and wet cloths in the haze and smoke produced by the forest fire. And where we did manage to extinguish the blaze, ash would pile up afterwards. Yet after only one week nature awakened. A single bud sprouted from the ash, blooming pink and white, while all around it everything was black still.<\/p>\n