The 2016 Portugal wildfires are a series of wildfires that burned across mainland

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and the

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

in the north

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

during August 2016 that prompted the evacuation of more than one thousand people and destroyed at least 37 homes near

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of ...

on Madeira island. Flights were also disrupted at

Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport Madeira Airport ( pt, Aeroporto da Madeira, ), informally Funchal Airport (), formally Santa Catarina Airport () and officially Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, is an international airport in the civil parish of Santa Cruz in the Portugu ...

due to high levels of smoke. At least seven major fires were burning out of control in the north of Portugal on August 9, according to officials, the fire of Arouca and S.Pedro do Sul was the biggest. The authorities say around 3,000 firefighters are trying to extinguish hundreds of forest fires across the country. An emergency was declared in Portugal's northern Norte Region as firefighters battled numerous wildfires.

Fire in Madeira

On 9 August 2016 a fire, allegedly by arson, started at the S. Roque parish in Madeira that quickly spread throughout the region of Southern Madeira and to its capital

. Though still burning in several fronts, the fire was, according to Madeira's regional president

Miguel Albuquerque Miguel Filipe Machado de Albuquerque (born 4 May 1961) is a Portugal, Portuguese politician of the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the current Presidents of the Regional Government of Madeira, President of the ...

, "under control". The statement was later qualified. Four deaths are attributed to the wildfire as well as a thousand displaced people. The five-star hotel "Choupana Hills" was also gutted by the flames. Three suspects of arson are currently detained and one of them is currently in pre-trial detention.

Reactions

The

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#PrayForPortugal trended on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

in response to the wildfires.

International support

The

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of South Yorkshire, England. The service covers the areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. In 2020, Chris Kirby was appointed its Chief Fire ...

service in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

sent a large amount of specialist equipment to volunteer colleagues in Portugal after an appeal for equipment. The shipment included hose-reel fittings, ropes and tools. The European Union is helping Portugal combat the wildfires. Italy and Spain have sent three Canadair airplanes.

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

is also sending two Canadair airplanes.

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

is donating €2M to Portugal to help fight the fires and to help the victims.

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

is also expected to send air help due to a bilateral agreement between the two countries.

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

also donated £100,000 to his hometown of

References

{{2016 wildfires 2016 in Portugal August 2016 events in Europe 2016 wildfires Fires in Portugal Natural disasters in Portugal Wildfires in Europe

Fire in Madeira

Reactions

International support

See also

References