Firefighters have brought a large forest fire under control on the Portuguese island of Madeira with the help of two Spanish fire-fighting aircraft, António Nunes, the regional head of civil protection, said on Saturday.
The plane from Spain arrived on Thursday at the request of the European Union, after Portugal sought help from the bloc. Each of the two twin-engine propeller planes can carry about 6,000 liters of water.
Their efforts were further enhanced by the foggy weather with high humidity.
The Spanish planes were mainly deployed in the mountains around Pico Ruivo, the highest mountain on the island at over 1,800 metres. Madeira’s only fire-fighting helicopter had tried to contain the flames, but was unsuccessful.
According to data from the Earth observation programme Copernicus, the forest fire that broke out on August 14 has destroyed about 5,000 hectares of natural area.
No injuries or damage to buildings have been reported so far, but scientists lament the significant damage to the environment and the destruction of flora and fauna.
Detectives are investigating the cause of the fire, LUSA news agency reported. The regional head of the Madeira government, Miguel Albuquerque, has already spoken of arson, the report said.
