Seven terrified college friends had no choice but to run for their lives after a forest fire surrounded their Algarve villa.
Ash fell into the pool as the group sped to safety, frantically cramming into a car to escape the raging flames approaching them.
The group of friends had left for a week in the Portuguese sun to celebrate their time at the . to celebrate University of Oxford come to an end.
But things took a dramatic turn in the early hours of July 14.
The group had left for a week in Portugal to celebrate the end of their time at Oxford University
Wildfires raged about 1-2 km from their Airbnb villa near Quinto Verde for most of the day.
One of the group, Millie Farley, 22, from Wombourne, said: BirminghamLive they were worried about sleeping through the night, so they set an alarm at 3am to stay on the lookout.
This alarm may have saved their lives.
When the alarm went off, they looked outside and saw a “very small, seemingly insignificant bonfire-like fire” about 100 yards away.
Mrs Farley said: ‘We decided to stay up and keep an eye on it to make sure it wasn’t anything to worry about.
At 3am, they checked out and could see a ‘very small, seemingly insignificant bonfire-like fire’ about 100 yards away from their villa near Quinto Verde
When they returned the villa to collect their belongings, the ground was still smoldering
“After about 20 minutes of anxious waiting, we got up to go out again. The image that greeted me as I drew back the curtains to open our patio door is something that will haunt me for a long time – flames were literally less than 6 feet from my window, ash fell into the pool and the sky was lit in a fiery orange glow .’
She continued: ‘It was really terrifying.
“We yelled to wake everyone up and grabbed our passports as we ran through the front door to the car.
“Without hesitation, we drove along the track at high speeds, cramming seven of us into a small Fiat Panda.”
The former modern language student felt really terrified by the sudden fires and immediately left the villa
As they made their way to safety, Ms. Farley said they were so afraid the fire would block the path, their only real exit to the main road.
“Luckily we got out just in time,” she said. “The fire quickly spread behind us, burning trees and shrubs in its path.”
About two hours later, the friends were told it was safe to return to the villa and collect their belongings.
One of the group decided to fly home shortly after that morning’s dramatic events, but the six remaining friends agreed to stay in Faro before flying home on Friday.
Ms Farley, a former modern language student, said: ‘There was no water or electricity because the wires had burned out, but we were able to pack our bags and leave. The area surrounding the villa was completely blackened and the ground was still smoldering – we could barely breathe through the smoke.
Ms Farley saw flames less than 6 feet from the window, ash fell into the pool and the sky lit up with a fiery orange glow
“To be fair, we probably could have stayed in the same villa as it wasn’t physically damaged by the fire and the gardener would fix the wires. For us it was more the traumatic experience that kept us from returning, the area is dry and barren – it’s a disaster waiting to happen.’
Many celebrities have also become entangled in the dangerous wildfires.
Former Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne tweeted that he was forced to flee his mansion during a “terrible day in the Algarve.”
Rebekah Vardy, who is vacationing in Portugal with her kids, shared a video of a helicopter carrying water on her Instagram story with the caption “these guys are incredible.”