Madeira wildfires: Three dead as flames reach Funchal

Three people have died as wildfires raged in
the city of Funchal, on the Portuguese island
of Madeira.
All three are said to have been elderly people
whose homes caught fire. A thousand people
have evacuated from homes and hotels.
Fires have also been blazing on the mainland
and there are reports of a fourth death in
central Portugal.
The government has triggered the EU Civil
Protection Mechanism, which enables other
European states to help.
Italy has already released a Canadair aircraft
to join the effort.
Several arrests have been made of people
suspected of illegally starting fires.
Forest fires first took hold in the Portuguese
mainland on Friday and on the island of
Madeira, off the north-west African coast, on
Monday, following weeks of dry weather and
temperatures above 35C.
On Tuesday the flames encroached on
Funchal, home to some 112,000 permanent
residents and capital of an island that attracts
more than a million tourists per year.
"Last night, the fire was 100m [330 feet] away
from the hotel and you could hear gas bottles
exploding," Ricardo Correia, a manager at the
hotel Castanheiro, told AFP news agency. "We
evacuated our 140 guests as a precaution," Mr
Correia said, explaining they had spent the
night in a sports stadium.
An iconic hotel on Funchal's outskirts, the
five-star Choupana Hills, was gutted by the
flames.
Regional President Miguel Albuquerque told a
news conference that the fire was still
burning on several fronts but was "under
control," AFP reported.
"The situation is complex but not
catastrophic," he said.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime
Minister Antonio Costa have scheduled a visit
to the island on Thursday.
On the mainland, firefighters were said to be
exhausted after days battling the blazes.
In addition to three deaths in Madeira, a
fourth death was reported - a man aged
between 40 and 50 in the central region of
Santarem.
There were 176 active fires burning on
Wednesday afternoon, according to Portugal's
civil protection agency , with 13 causing
particular concern - mainly in the north-west
of the mainland:
In Agueda, the fire chief appealed for air
support in the face of what the mayor
said was the worst fire the area had ever
experienced, reported Diario de Noticias
(in Portuguese)
In Arouca, and Aveiro, large blazes were
reported after strong winds fanned the
flames
Further north, homes were coming under
threat in Santa Maria da Feira, reports
said
Some main roads have also been closed
More than 4,200 emergency workers are
battling the flames across the country.
Firefighters are said to have blamed poor
forest management for the fires, but President
Rebelo de Sousa reportedly insisted the
country had been well prepared.