The fire in Madeira has been brought under control and is being eliminated, but has not yet been extinguished

The fire that broke out on the island of Madeira 12 days ago is “under control and in the process of being eliminated”, without any active source, but still with some hot spots, the Civil Protection reported this Sunday.

Although the situation is currently under control, the fire is not yet out and teams will remain vigilant on the ground to prevent possible re-ignitions, regional civil protection commander António Nunes told Lusa.

“It’s raining in the highlands now,” so the fires are not expected to flare up again, but there is always an element of unpredictability in fires that requires constant vigilance,” he said.

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. This Sunday, on the 11th day, the regional Civil Protection Service reported that the fire was under control and that operators remained on the ground to deal with the consequences, controlling some hot spots.

Over the past few days, authorities have ordered nearly 200 people to leave their homes as a precaution and have set up community reception centres, but many residents have returned home.

Firefighting efforts were hampered by wind and high temperatures, but there were no reports of injuries or destruction of homes or important public infrastructure, according to the regional government, although some small-scale agricultural production and forested areas were damaged.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, the area of ​​burnt areas exceeds 5,045 hectares.

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.