Madeira Fires Update Thursday.

Its been a restless night in Calheta, as fires moved on to Prezeres.

homes were close to the fires and residents said it was a night of hell, and took to social media asking why there weren't more resources in the area.

The weather has improved a lot over night, with cooler temperatures, a huge drop in wind, but still the government say they cant rule out more fires in any area of the island. 

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The suspect for starting the fire in Sao Roque remains in custody, and another 4 people have also been identified.

yesterday a jerrycan full of petrol was found in Paul da Serra. 

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The 3 active fires over night into this morning are in  São João Latrão, in the upper zone of São Gonçalo (Funchal), in Câmara de Lobos  and in Calheta.

150 homes have been destroyed in the fires making them unfit for use, and over 3000 people have been displaced including tourists.

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The president Albuquerque has said they will again look into aircraft for fighting the fires.

This has been discussed many times in the past and has divided opinions as to the true effectiveness of such an action against the orography of the island.

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A beautiful image captured by Miguel Moniz of a common plant to the island, already popping up through the ashes.

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The hugely popular festival in Monte, Nossa Senhora do Monte, one of the largest religious festivals on the island will be cancelled due to the situation in Madeira.

The festival normally runs for a week with the 14-15 August being the main dates for the festival.

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Very sad to hear that houses that have been evacuated are being targeted for robbery, some people left their doors and windows open in the panic to leave the property.

Emergency plan being put into place.

The president and members of the Municipal of Funchal are gathering for a meeting this morning to put a plan of emergency into place.

Over night things seem to have worsened. Thousands of passengers have be stuck in the airport over night as strong winds forced many flights to be cancelled, the winds are expected to be worse today, so this could well lead into another day of airport closure and cancelled flights.

Nelio sent these photos at 02.45 am

Fires gained strength over night. The fire in Sao Roque started spreading again and moving closer to houses, a temporary shelter that was put up for people whos homes were affected had to be evacuated and people moved further away.

The hospital Marmeleiros at Monte this morning was evacuated, more to the reason of smoke and fumes in the area. All workers from the Hospital have been called to an emergency meeting at the main Hospital Dr Nelio Mendonca in Funchal this morning. 

More than 200 people in the Military area by Nazare have been moved, the fire has devastated the slope of Fundoa and also burnt some houses.

From 4am an operation was put in place to remove the buses Horários do Funchal from their location in Fundoa as a precaution as the fire was close to the facilities.

All news and photos from the Diario Noticias

Large Fire in Sao Roque

A fire has broken out in Sao Roque, and strong winds are making it difficult to contain. 

The fire is spreading fast and fire crews have been on the scene for some hours, residents are as well trying to dampen down and put out flames in a bid to protect their properties.

Santa Cruz Clean up

The sea front at Santa Cruz is being cleaned up this morning on a large scale. The wood and debris that came down the rivers from the heavy rain on Thursday night has left beaches along the south east coast a mess. Large amounts of wood are being piled up along the sea front for anyone to go and collect for burning.

Photos below from the Diario...