Too Close to Home
What you see in the images below is taking place as I type, approximately one kilometer from where Proverb and I live. Portugal has been plagued by serious fires since the European heatwave began several weeks ago. Until now, the fires have been in the central and southern part of Portugal.
About two hours ago I began smelling smoke, which is not unusual here in a farming community. However, the smell got much stronger than usual. I went to our kitchen balcony and saw what you see below.
About one hour later it had grown to this:
You can see the flames in the center of this image:
Fire departments from at least three nearby towns have responded. Helicopters are now overhead dropping water.
At the moment it seems that the smoke line is contracting, so hopefully the firemen have it under control.