Hopefully today we will see the fires extinguished.
The area burned in the rural fire raging on the island of Madeira reached 5,002.4 hectares by the end of the morning today, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (Copernicus).
The update was released by the European agency shortly after 10:30 pm and refers to data collected up until around 12:00 pm yesterday, the ninth day of this fire.
The previous report released by the same entity, with the situation up to 12:00 on Wednesday, indicated that 4,937.6 hectares had burned.
On Tuesday, in statements to Lusa, the president of the Regional Civil Protection Service (SRPC), António Nunes, when asked about the figures given on Monday by the regional secretary of the department – which indicated seven thousand hectares burned – explained that the “confusion derives from an assessment made by the external limits of the burned area”.
Inside that area, he said, “there are many pockets of vegetation that did not burn.”
The rural fire on Madeira Island broke out a week ago, 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, via Pico Ruivo, Santana. In the meantime, several outbreaks have been extinguished.
In a status update at 9:00 pm, the SRPC indicated that the fire was active in Pico Ruivo and Pico do Gato, in the central mountain range of the island, and in the municipality of Ponta do Sol.