The Café na Ria beach bar on Alvor quayside was engulfed in flames, with locals saying at least the kitchen and the inside dining room were completely destroyed.
Remarkably, no one was hurt in the raging inferno.
Portimão fire brigade’s Commandant Richard Marques told The Portugal News that the first fire engine was at the scene in eight minutes “which given the distance of the Portimão fire station from Alvor and the traffic at this time of year, was a record time.”
A total of 23 firefighters and nine vehicles were dispatched to the scene, and managed to save 50 percent of the establishment, “which given the type of structure it is, made of wood, is remarkable.”
The alarm was raised at around 22.13pm, and firefighters had extinguished the blaze in 27 minutes, having put it out at 22.40pm.
Commandant Richard Marques said a new €280,000 fire engine purchased for them by Portimão council and handed over at the start of this month, had been used in Sunday’s incident, and is currently being used to fight fires on a daily basis, given the amount of incidents at this time of year.