Portugal has appealed to the EU for assistance in fighting a wildfire that now threatens a UNESCO-listed forest – with wildfire on Madeira, a popular tourist hub – burning for more than a week.
Wood Central understands that Portugal will now trigger the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to bolster firefighting efforts with two Canadair water bomber planes, a government source told local media.
The head of the regional government, Miguel Albuquerque, said 60 extra firefighters and first aid specialists had arrived from the Portuguese mainland on top of 76 already sent since the wildfire started on Wednesday last week.
Already, the European Union’s Copernicus observatory said that the fire had burned 4,392 hectares (10,850 acres) of land up to Tuesday – adding that more than 950 hectares had burned in the previous 24 hours.
Regional civil protection chief Antonio Nunes said the flames had touched a part of the Laurissilva forest, the largest surviving laurel forest on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. He said the damage was not significant.
The Civil Protection Service said in a statement that more than 100 firefighters battled the blaze on two main fronts on the island, traditionally packed with summer tourists at this time.
It comes as fierce winds fuelling the flames have disrupted operations at the island’s main airport, Funchal. However, its management said the site was working normally this week.
The fire started in the Ribeira Brava district and spread to the nearby Camara de Lobos, and Ponta do Sol districts in the southern part of the island. About 200 people were evacuated from their homes to avoid smoke inhalation, but most have since returned.
Already, fires are wreaking havoc on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
It comes as Wood Central reported on Sunday that forest fires continue ravaging forests in and around Turkey’s third-largest city, Izmir, with fire authorities controlling the worst of the blazes.
“Flames continued to char steep valleys in a district some 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Izmir, but at a slower pace,” according to Minister Yumakli, with Murat Kurum, Turkiye’s Minister for Urban Planning, confirming that at least 43 buildings have been damaged in the city. At the same time, 26 people were hospitalised with injuries related to the blaze.
According to global scientists, coastal areas like Madeira and Izmir are especially prone to climate change, which will make extreme weather events, including heat waves, longer-lasting and more intense and increase the risk of wildfires.
- For more information about how forests can be managed by increased climate risk, visit Wood Central’s special feature from British Columbia’s wildfires last year.
