The effectiveness of the use of heavy Canadair firefighting aircraft in extinguishing the fire that has been raging on the island of Madeira since the 14th and which yesterday afternoon had already accumulated 5,749 hectares of burnt area, according to reports from the European Copernicus emergency management satellites, is “at least questionable”, he assured. CM specialist in rural firefighting. The issue, he says, is not only the impossibility of aircraft approaching flame fronts that burn in steep ravines, causing high-altitude drops that are ineffective, but also the time between each shot (the pair deliver water via a tanker at Porto Santo airport, losing at least an hour between each operation) and the fact that elements on the ground cannot get close enough to consolidate any gains in the air.
“It’s a publicity stunt,” the same source concluded, pointing to the lack of regional planning to combat these fires. The big hope at the moment is the rain forecast for Saturday and Sunday on Madeira Island.