At least 160 people have been evicted from their homes in Madeira due to fires

The fire that has been raging since Wednesday in the municipality of Ribeira Brava and has spread to Camara de Lobos in Madeira is “contained” in the municipality of Camara de Lobos but not under control, said Leonel Silva, president of the municipality.

The fire has three active fronts and at least 160 people have been evacuated from homes in two municipalities, and since Sunday it has been supported by 76 Special Fire Service operatives who arrived from the mainland, said António Nunes, president of the Board of Directors of the Regional Civil Protection Service of Madeira.

Regarding the registered damage, the mayor noted that “there is no damaged housing in the municipality.”

Although the accounting has not yet been completed, Leonel Silva said the fire damaged warehouses, haystacks and farmland.

At present, about 50 residents have been forced to leave their homes and are located in two municipal community centers.

According to the situation at 8:30 a.m., active fronts are in the areas of Curral das Freiras and Fajã das Galinhas in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos and in Serra de Água in the neighboring municipality to the west of Ribeira Bava.

There is a record of a firefighter being injured “in the first days of the fire,” António Nunes said.

The fires are being extinguished by 180 operators from all fire departments in the region, supported by 43 vehicles and an aircraft, which has already begun work.

All forces of forest police, sappers and nature observers are also on site and actively participating in extinguishing the fire.

The Regional Civil Protection Action Plan of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (PREPCRAM) was activated in response to the “seriousness of the situation”.

Strong winds and hot weather have prompted the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) to place all regions of Madeira Island under orange alert.

A yellow warning, the least serious of the three, is issued by IPMA whenever a risk situation arises for certain activities depending on the meteorological situation, while an orange warning (level two) is issued when a moderate risk meteorological situation is too high.

These atmospheric conditions made it difficult to fight the fire and as a precaution, dozens of people were evicted from their homes and stayed in buildings provided by local councils.

People evicted from two villages in Ribeira Brava cannot return home and there is no forecast that this will happen.

Let us recall that Miguel Albuquerque, President of the Regional Government of Madeira, who interrupted the holiday he was enjoying on the island of Porto Santo, spoke this Saturday about the possibility of arson.

Update