The two Canadair firefighting planes requested by the Portuguese government from the European Union, within the scope of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, are already in Porto Santo and should start operating today, the regional executive said.
“In the next few hours, all the logistics inherent to the start of their activity in fighting the fires in Madeira will be set in motion, with the main focus on the central mountain range,” the Regional Secretariat for Health and Civil Protection said in a statement.
The two Canadair planes from Malaga, Spain, landed in Porto Santo at around 12 noon, where they will be supplied with drinking water from the airport’s fire hydrants as part of the operations to combat the fire that broke out nine days ago on the island of Madeira.
In its statement, the Department of Health and Civil Protection said that at 12 noon the fire was still active in the municipality of Santana, in the central mountain range (Pico Ruivo and Pico do Gado) and in the highlands of the municipality of Ponta do Sol (Lombada).
“There are more than a dozen resources on the ground, including an airplane [helicopter] and more than 125 operatives made up of members of all the fire departments in RAM [the Autonomous Region of Madeira], the Azores Fire Brigade and the Special Civil Protection Force,” reads the statement.
In Ponta do Sol, where the Special Civil Protection Force is concentrated, the fire is still burning in the high areas “far from residential areas”.
“At the focus between Pico Ruivo and Pico do Gado, the active front is branching out with little intensity and remains in an area that is difficult to access,” explains the Regional Secretariat, adding that more than a dozen men from the Santana and Santa Cruz fire departments are deployed in this theater of operations.
The air force is concentrating its activity here.
The 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, through Pico Ruivo, Santana.
The authorities have instructed nearly 200 people to leave their homes as a precaution and have made public reception facilities available, but many residents have already returned, with the exception of those in Fajã das Galinhas, in Câmara de Lobos.
Fighting the blaze has been hampered by the wind and high temperatures, but there are no reports of homes or essential infrastructure being destroyed.
Some firefighters have received assistance for exhaustion or minor injuries, and there are no other casualties.
Data from the European Forest Fire Information System points to more than 4,930 hectares of burned area.
The Judicial Police are investigating the causes of the fire, but the president of the Madeiran executive, Miguel Albuquerque, said it was arson.
