In 2021, 44 forest fires were recorded (-15 than in the previous year; -25.4%), which consumed an area of 72 hectares (1 392 hectares in 2020).
According to the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira, the area burned in 2021 was the lowest since the beginning of the series available in DREM (year 2006). Fires this year occurred in 7 of the 11 municipalities in the Region, with Porto Moniz, Santana, São Vicente and Porto Santo not registering any occurrence and the municipalities of Ribeira Brava (16 fires) and Machico (10) being those that accounted for more episodes of this nature. In terms of burned area, Ribeira Brava was the most affected municipality in RAM, with 29 hectares of affected surface (40.7% of the total).
692 effective firefighters in Madeira
According to Regional Environmental Statistics, in the year in question (2021), the 10 fire brigades in the Region had 692 staff, who provided around 46.5 thousand services (+12.2% compared to 2020), in their the vast majority (69.0%) related to the health/pre-hospital area. In the year under review, expenditure by fire departments was around 13.3 million euros, +14.2% compared to 2020, of which 82.1% related to personnel costs (82.7% in 2020 ).
Firefighters in RAM are mostly male (86.7%), aged between 26 and 50 years old (68.1%), have secondary education (47.4%) and work in professional regime (58.1%).