The Regional Civil Protection and Emergency Plan of Madeira will cease to be active on Tuesday after the end of the natural disaster, while the municipality of Ponta do Sol deactivated the municipal plan this Monday after the fire was extinguished. According to an official source of the Regional Civil Protection Service, the Regional Civil Protection Emergency Plan (PREPCRAM) of the region will be “automatically deactivated” on Tuesday, an official source of the Regional Civil Protection Service said. The regional emergency plan was activated on August 17.
The Municipality of Ponta do Sol (the last to record an active fire) in a message sent to the editorial offices reports that the Municipal Civil Protection Emergency Plan has already been deactivated, as the fire is under control and the alert has been cancelled. The rural fire on the island of Madeira broke out on August 14 in the mountains of the municipality of Ribeira Brava, gradually spreading to the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol and Santana.
Today, the regional civil defense reported that the fire was “completely extinguished.”
As for the other municipalities affected by the fire, the president of the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, Leonel Silva, told Lusa that the municipal emergency plan will remain in effect for another fifteen days, but “will be limited to the Fajã das Galinhas area only.”
The mayor stressed that the faja remains in a critical situation due to the “dangerous” nature of the rock, insisting on the “need to relocate” the area’s residents.
The mayor of Ribeira Brava said the municipality will wait for the deactivation of PREPCRAM to cancel the municipal plan.
The Santana municipality has not activated its emergency plan.
On August 20, Câmara da Ponta do Sol announced the activation of the Municipal Contingency Plan for the rural fire on the island of Madeira, following a decision already taken by the municipalities of Ribeira Brava and Câmara de Lobos. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, the area of burnt land exceeds 5,045 hectares.
In the days that the fire raged, authorities ordered nearly 200 people to leave their homes as a precaution and set up community reception centres, but many residents returned home. Firefighting was complicated by wind and high temperatures, but there were no reports of injuries or damage to homes or important public infrastructure, according to the regional government, although some small-scale agricultural production and forested areas were damaged.
The Judicial Police are investigating the cause of the fire, but the President of the Executive Power of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, said it was arson.