An active fire broke out in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos on Tuesday morning after a second fire broke out in Fajã dos Cardos, a forested area that is difficult to access, municipal president Leonel Silva told Luce.
The fire caused great alarm during the night, but did not reach homes or force residents to evacuate, the mayor said.
“The active front now is the one that returned to Carral. [das Freiras]. Yesterday [segunda-feira] “We didn’t have an active fire in the morning, but there was a re-ignition in Fajão dos Cardoso, in the northern area of Curral das Freiras, in a difficult to access area, on the peaks, which lasted all night,” Leonel Silva told Lusa.
The fire had spread over a wide area and was causing “great concern” as many resources were mobilized to protect the residential area, the mayor said.
“However, the fire has not reached the residential area. It has been burning all night and this morning, still with some intensity, in a forested area that is difficult to access by land. The operators are trying to make contact from a point where it is possible to reach on foot. There is no access in the northernmost part of the land. If the fire continues, it could cause alarm and could reach the highest peaks of Madeira, which would be difficult,” he said.
Leonel Silva noted that so far (around 9 a.m.) there was no need to evacuate people, but added that the situation is being assessed depending on the development of the fire.
“Yesterday [segunda-feira] During the night, as a precaution, we had two people with some weaknesses and in order not to cause concern, we asked the family to move them. They went to their family’s house. However, at the moment, there is no need to move people, but if the fire spreads to residential areas, then yes,” he said.
Leonel Silva also said at around 9:00 a.m. that he did not know the situation with the fires that were raging in Furne, Ribeira Brava and Ponta do Sol.
A rural fire in Madeira broke out on Wednesday in the Ribeira Brava mountains and spread to the municipality of Camara de Lobos the following day and to the municipality of Ponta do Sol via Paul da Serra over the weekend.
By Sunday, 160 people had been evicted from their homes as a precaution and taken to public facilities, but many residents had already returned or were returning home, with the exception of Fajã das Galinhas in Camara de Lobos.
At the beginning of Monday night, the fire had two active fronts: in Encumeada (Ribeira Brava) and Paul da Serra (Ponta do Sol), causing about 60 people to be evacuated from Furna (Ribeira Brava) to be transported to the municipal sports hall.
On the ground there were more than 40 fire engines and more than 150 firefighters from Madeira, the Azores and the Joint Operational Force of Civil Protection, who arrived from the continent, as well as the air force of the Regional Service of Civil Protection. to the functioning of other organisms.
The fight against the blaze was made more difficult by the winds and high temperatures, but there was no evidence of damage to homes or vital infrastructure. A firefighter was hospitalized due to exhaustion.
According to forecasts from the European Forest Fire Information System, seven thousand hectares have burned since the fire began.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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