Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Tuesday he would request assistance from other European countries and Russian Federation if the blazes do not abate by next Monday.
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The 2016 Portugal wildfires are a series of wildfires that burned across mainland Portugal and the Madeira archipelago in the north Atlantic Ocean during August 2016 that prompted the evacuation of more than one thousand people and destroyed at least 37 homes near Funchal on Madeira island.
3 elderly people were killed and hundreds others injured in fire that stormed into mainland Portugal, where 13 major wildfires were raging out of control, a forest watchman was also killed during the night when a blaze engulfed the caravan he was sleeping in 150km north of Lisbon.
The president of the Madeira region, Miguel Albuquerque, said the fire was still burning on several fronts but was “under control”.
He said 80 people were in hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation, including two in a serious condition.
City mayor Paulo Cafofo said it was “impossible” to calculate how many buildings were caught in the blaze, but told Publico that a five-star hotel and spa had been completely consumed. Eighty people remain hospitalized, he said. Residents described a frantic escape, with people racing away in their cars at high speed and on the opposite side of the road, according to the AP.
Tourism is the mainstay of Madeira’s economy.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of starting the fire, police have said. The high winds in recent days have also forced the cancellation of around two dozen flights.
Other buildings had been damaged by flames, officials said yesterday.
The evacuated people were taken to an army barracks, a soccer stadium and a civic center on the island.
A Funchal animal shelter said it released 120 cats and dogs on Tuesday as flames bore down on its premises.
He said reinforcements, including firefighters and doctors, are due to arrive later on Wednesday from the Portuguese mainland.
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On mainland Portugal, more than 3,200 firefighters are now battling more than 100 fires that have been raging amid the arid summer heat, causing chaos across the country, according to the Portuguese National Authority of Civil Protection.
