Post-wildfire damage assessment in Madeira Island, Portugal (2024-08-14)

A large and severe wildfire caused havoc on the south side of Madeira in August 2024. It started on the 14th of August close to the small town of Ribeira Brava (centrally located on the southern coastline), propagating later towards the central part of the island. The fire of unknown cause benefited of hot and dry topical air and strong winds.
The operations and interventions to bring the fire under control resulted difficult due to strong wind, the high temperatures and steep slopes, the latter leading to difficult access to the burning areas. Firefighters succeeded after 11 days, leaving more than 5,000 hectares of burnt vegetation behind (equivalent to 5.6% of the island). Damage to population and infrastructure was not reported.
The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was also activated, which coordinated the deployment of two rescEU firefighting Canadair planes. Further, the Copernicus Emergency Service Rapid Mapping provided the local authorities with updated maps to monitor the situation within activation EMSR748.