Madeira battles wildfire for fifth day

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LISBON (Reuters) – Firefighters backed by 40 vehicles and a helicopter struggled to contain a wildfire on Monday on the southern coast of Portugal’s island of Madeira that has burnt through more than 3,000 hectares (7,410 acres) of forest over the past five days.

The blaze, which started on Wednesday in the rural area of Ribeira Brava, has since spread to the neighbouring municipality of Camara de Lobos to the east and was burning close to a popular beach area of Ponta do Sol, to the west.

According to local authorities, the blaze had two active fronts, and at noon there was a reignition in the central Curral das Freiras area.

High temperatures and strong winds continue to hamper efforts, they added, although no injuries or fatalities have been reported and the flames were not threatening any homes.

On Sunday 160 people were evacuated as a precaution due to the risk of smoke inhalation.

To help local teams, Portuguese authorities have sent a force of 76 firefighters from the mainland and 15 from the Azores archipelago over the weekend.

According to the EU Climate Change Service Copernicus, the fire has already burnt more than 3,000 hectares and its plume of smoke stretches for 130 km (81 miles).

The entire south coastline of Madeira – an autonomous region of Portugal with around 250,000 residents and a popular tourist destination – has been placed on orange alert, the second highest level, due to high temperatures.

Much of southern Europe, but also parts of Asia and North America, have suffered from frequent wildfires as summers have become hotter and drier in recent years, which scientists attribute to climate change.

(Reporting by Patrícia Vicente Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Alex Richardson)