The fire that raged in Madeira for 11 days is under control and is in the recovery phase, although there may still be some small “normal” rekindlings, the regional commander of Civil Protection, António Nunes, told Lusa.
“The fire is under control and is now in the extinguishing phase. There are still some hot spots and there may be some smaller rekindlings, which is normal,” he said.
According to the official, the operatives are still on the ground to control the situation and prevent rekindling.
“We will now replace the night teams and a helicopter will fly over the region to assess, but we hope that it is over and that we can all go and rest, the teams are exhausted”, said António Nunes, adding that the fact that today there is “100% humidity, dense fog” will be a “great help”.
The regional commander of Civil Protection specified that the fire was controlled on Friday at the end of the day and that between 20:00 and 21:00 it was already “98% consolidated”.
According to the latest assessment made by the European Forest Fire Information System (Copernicus), released on Friday night, the area burned in the rural fire that raged on the island of Madeira that morning reached 5,045.8 hectares.
The fire broke out on August 14th, 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.
Fighting the flames was hampered by wind and high temperatures, but there was no record of destruction of homes or essential infrastructure.
Some firefighters received treatment for exhaustion or minor injuries, but there were no other injuries.