The Briton also won SS6 and SS7 this afternoon, and was later awarded the winning time for SS5 after the test was stopped following the dramatic exits of Hayden Paddon and Ott Tanak.
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The flames spread to the vehicle which was a burned-out shell within five minutes leaving Paddon and co-driver John Kennard only able to salvage their helmets. Fortunately, all drivers and codrivers in both cars escaped unharmed.
Meeke was 35.2sec ahead of the Frenchman with Dani Sordo, in a Hyundai, in third spot at 39sec off the pace.
Two asphalt street stages in the centre of Porto end the leg after 132km of racing.
Mads Østberg had difficulty downshifting his Ford Fiesta RS but improvements enabled the Norwegian to climb to seventh, with team-mate Eric Camilli eighth. Jari-Matti Latvala-Mikka Anttila (FIN/Volkswagen Polo-R) 1.9, 6.
Paddon triumphed in the previous round in Argentina, but his vehicle burst into flames after being rolled in stage five, with the inferno quickly reducing it to a shell, though both he and co-driver John Kennard escaped unharmed.
The defending champion outpaced Paddon by 2.6sec on the 3.36km mixed surface special stage in northern Portugal.
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Rally Portugal comprises 19 stages over four days, with day two taking in two identical loops of three gravel stages near Viana do Castelo, close to the Spanish border.
