Weeklong fires rips through Madeira Island
The regional Government has come under heavy criticism over its handling of the crisis.
The island of Madeira, known for its lush vegetation and temperate climate, has become the scene of a natural tragedy that defies human and technological capacity.
Since Wednesday, August 14, a voracious fire has devoured nearly 5,000 hectares, equivalent to 5.6% of the island’s surface.
The fire broke out in the mountains of Ribeira Brava, spreading the following day to the neighboring municipality, Câmara de Lobos, at the weekend, to the municipality of Ponta do Sol, through Paul da Serra, and on Tuesday to the municipality of Santana, through Pico Ruivo.
This Thursday afternoon, there were two active fires, with one that has evolved towards the central mountain range, mainly in Achada do Teixeira, Pico Ruivo, being the most worrying, according to a civil protection source.
Fighting the flames has been made difficult by the terrain's terrain, the heat and high winds. In the days after the fire started, local reporting indicated wind gusts up to 70 kilometers (43 miles) per hour and temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
During these days, more than 220 people were removed from their homes as a precaution and transported to public facilities, but most residents have already returned home, with the exception of Fajã das Galinhas, in Câmara de Lobos, and Furna, in Ribeira Brava. . The municipalities of Ponta do Sol, Câmara de Lobos and Ribeira Brava activated the disaster plan to deal with the fire.
So far, there is no record of destruction of houses and essential infrastructure, just agricultural warehouses, irrigation pipes for agriculture and some beehives.
Regional Government under criticism
When the fire broke out on 14 August, the President of Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, was on holiday in Porto Santo.
He interrupted his holiday on Saturday, but resumed it a few days later, even though the situation was becoming increasingly dire.
The leader of the Socialist party in Madeira, Paulo Cafôfo, criticised the management of the fire, which he described as ‘deficient’ and ‘incompetent’, and regretted that on Saturday only one member of the government ‘showed his face’.
Paulo Cafôfo had previously criticised Miguel Albuquerque for having said on Friday, according to a source in the president's office, that the support of the Republic was not ‘necessary’. Albuquerque denied, however, that he had rejected help from the continent.
The Together for the People (JPP) - the third largest party in the Legislative Assembly, with nine of the 47 seats in the chamber - criticised what he called the ‘incompetence’ of the president of the regional government and the secretary responsible for civil protection, and announced that he would urgently request a parliamentary hearing for these officials.
On Wednesday, Chega and the Liberal Initiative of Madeira demanded the ‘immediate resignation’ of those responsible for civil protection and forest and nature conservation, due to the ‘ineffective’ and ‘disastrous’ management of the fire that has been raging in the region for a week.
Later, at a press conference in Funchal, the President of the Regional Government guaranteed that the ‘containment strategy’ adopted ‘so far has been a success’, as well as being ‘intelligent, effective and technically appropriate’.
However, a former Civil Protection official told DN that Albuquerque ‘shouldn't be holding operational briefings’, stressing that it’s now widely accepted that politicians refrain ‘from holding briefings until the situation is normalised’.
Laurissilva Forest
The island of Madeira is the proud guardian of an environmental heritage of inestimable importance: the Laurissilva forest, which is about 20 million years old, dates back to the Miocene and Pliocene periods of the Tertiary Period.
Distributed throughout the south of Europe and the north of Africa in those periods, the Laurissilva forest ended up finding in island regions its last refuge.
Currently, it occupies an area of around 15.000 hectares in Madeira, which corresponds to 20% of the island, with greater expression in the high areas of the north.
This subtropical rainforest is composed mainly of species endemic to Macaronesia.
It is a vast ecosystem that shelters a diversified fauna and flora, where the trees, many of which are centuries-old, of the Lauraceae family (to which the Laurissilva forest owes its name) stand out.
UNESCO World Heritage since 1999, the Laurissilva forest is a unique natural treasure. Walk along the trails and 'levadas' that cross it and enjoy the privilege of being connected to this green area of Madeira.
The president of Madeira's government said that ‘a large part of the Laurissilva forest’ had not been affected by the fire raging in the region until late Wednesday afternoon, adding that measures had been taken to safeguard the forest.