The three victims died in their homes close to the town’s historic centre, while a hotel overlooking the town was destroyed and other buildings were licked by flames, officials said.
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“Roughly a thousand people had to be evacuated from homes and hotels”, among them both residents and tourists, according to Funchal mayor Paulo Cafofo, quoted by the Lusa news agency.
A forest fire rages near houses in Curral dos Romeiros, on the outskirts of Funchal, the capital of the Madeira island, Portugal Tuesday, Aug. 9 2016.
Frantic locals used garden hosepipes and buckets of water to keep the flames at bay as wind blew embers across roads.
Firefighters said steep hills, dense woodland and large amounts of dry pine trees after a recent drought had made it particularly hard to tackle the flames once they began to spread.
Regional President Miguel Albuquerque said one person had suffered serious burns and scores of others had needed treatment for the effects of smoke.
The residents were evacuated in a shopping center and a hospital, reports said. Cooler temperatures are also expected by Wednesday, to help firefighters in their efforts to extinguish the flames.
Fires began in the hills around Funchal on Monday night but 24 hours later worsened dramatically, fanned by strong winds.
Other wildfires have also raged the Portuguese mainland in recent days.
On Tuesday evening, the government is sending a fire fighting force to the Madeira regions affected, Prime Minister Antonio Costa was quoted as saying.
The National Civil Protection Service has sent 3,300 firefighters to tackle the blaze, along with 23 water-dumping aircraft.
Mr Albuquerque said officials suspect the fire was started deliberately, and police have made two arrests. The worst-hit areas were in the country’s north.
The region’s pine and eucalyptus forests have made the flawless fuel, with dead wood littering the floor.
In the area around Viseu, which is 180 miles north of Lisbon, a wildfire forced the closure of a major motorway. In nearby Agueda, roads were closed and power lines were cut by wildfires.
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On Tuesday, Portuguese capital Lisbon was hazy as smoke from fires in the surrounding region drifted into the city.
