On August 25, 1988, the downtown Lisbon area suffered a huge fire which destroyed several 5 story buildings. The fire spread across Rua do Almado and Rua Carmo in the hilly Baixa neighborhood. By the time the fire was brought under control, damages were over 30,000,000 Escudos. The buildings that were involved had been built after the Earthquake of 1755 and contained no fire protection features such as alarms or sprinklers.
At the heoght of the blaze, approximately 50 pumpers, 15 aerial devices, 50 water carriers, and 1500 firefighters were at the scene. Mutual aid responded from 40 volunteer fire brigades up to 40 miles from Lisbon.
Four serious injuries resulted from the firefighting efforts. Lisbon Firefighter Joaquim Ramos was caught in a gas cylinder explosion while operating a handline and later succumbed to his injuries in a Lisbon hospital.