Shelley wrote on Facebook 17/10/2017.

I don't really know where to start! Huge fires fanned by strong winds hit Portugal on Sunday evening. The whole area area was on fire and out of control. We grabbed the dogs and evacuated the house up to the village. We spent the night in our van in the village square surrounded by fire and smoke and the sound of explosions. Yesterday morning we came back to devastation. We are very lucky that our house was saved (somehow!)

Everything outside the house is gone. Our cabin (my soap business), the digger, machinery and tools (Paul's business), the log shed (which we had literally just finished filling!). The gardens and orchard gone, the poly tunnel, the chicken house, hottub, our old Landrover (ploddy), tippertruck, tractor, and also my beautiful beetle.

I couldn't get the cat when we left, i saw her but she wouldn't come to me and disappeared, and I felt so upset that I had let her down by not taking her with us. But miraculously she was here to greet us on our return, we think she hid in the boulders somewhere.

Everywhere for miles is just utter destruction - telegraph poles and power lines across roads, burntout cars and houses. Everyone we've spoken to have been effected, lost livestock property, vehicles and businesses, and across the area many people injured and worse.

So now we're here trying to take it all in. Paul has gone to buy gloves, brooms, dustpans etc (ours have all melted!) so we can start the big clear up (although power is out again so we have no water!). We are counting our blessings that we and the pets and our house is OK. Things could have been very much worse.

We are trying to think positively - things can be rebuilt, replaced and replanted.

Thank you to everyone for the messages of support and help, and love to all our other friends who have been effected.

Xx

Anyone who knows Paul and Shelley will know how kind and generous they are.

I have set this Just Giving page up so that we can donate money to them whilst they are unable to work until their businesses are running again.

Steve