The municipality of Câmara de Lobos, in the western part of the island, recorded several active fires through the night, with the fire burning near homes and public facilities, namely in the centre of the parish of Curral das Freiras, in the interior of the municipality, according to the mayor.

The situation is now calmer, but the authorities cannot “reduce their resources”, stressed Leonel Silva, warning that fighting and extinguishing the fire will always depend on the weather conditions, which have not been favourable in recent days.

Regarding the damage recorded, the Mayor indicated that “no house in the municipality has been affected”. Although no figures have been made yet, Leonel Silva said that there are storage rooms, haystacks and agricultural land that have been affected by the fire.

At the moment, around 50 residents who were forced to leave their homes are staying in two municipal community centres. Madeira is being hit by a fire that broke out on Wednesday morning in Serra de Água, in the municipality of Ribeira Brava, in an area that is difficult to access, and then spread to the neighbouring municipality of Câmara de Lobos. At least 160 people were evacuated from their homes due to the fire in both municipalities, a source from the Regional Secretariat for Health and Civil Protection of Madeira told Lusa today.

According to the latest report released by the Regional Civil Protection Service, at 08:30, three fronts were active, in the areas of Curral das Freiras and Fajã das Galinhas, in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, and in Serra de Água, in the adjacent municipality to the west, Ribeira Brava.

The fires are being fought by 120 firefighters from all the region's fire departments, supported by 43 vehicles and the air force that has already begun operations. As of today, the region has the support of 76 members of the joint force of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority.

The Regional Civil Protection Emergency Plan of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (PREPCRAM) was activated to respond to “the gravity of the situation”.

All regions of Madeira are the only ones in the country to be under an orange warning from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) for hot weather, which is yellow for the island of Porto Santo.