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Hundreds of firemens battle Madeira wildfire

Numerous Portuguese firefighters on Sunday rushed to put out a wildfire sweeping parts of the Atlantic island of Madeira's south coast, a popular traveler destination, with strong winds complicating efforts to tackle the blaze.

The wildfire, which began on Wednesday in a remote rural area of Ribeira Brava has infected the neighbouring municipality of Camara de Lobos, and now has three fronts, island authorities said.

Almost 200 firemens, backed by 38 cars are dealing with the fire however heats, low humidity and strong winds are making complex efforts to combat the flames. A helicopter also fought the blaze however needed to stop operating as the night set in.

This fire, which is really dangerous, I believe it was caused by arson in an inaccessible location where air assistance could not operate, the President of the Regional Federal government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, told press reporters.

No injuries or deaths have actually been reported, but 160 people have been left for preventative measure, he stated.

The whole shoreline of Madeira - an autonomous area of Portugal home to around 250,000 individuals - has been placed on orange alert, the 2nd highest level, up until Monday, due to high temperatures.

According to weather agency IPMA, the temperature in Madeira reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 ° F) in the last few days. Strong winds that were fanning the flames resulted in dozens of cancelled flights.

Portugal sent out a force of 76 firefighters from the mainland to Madeira on Saturday and the neighbouring Azores archipelago was to send out 15 firemens on Sunday evening.

(source: Reuters)