Three people have died as wildfires raged in the city of Funchalon the Portuguese island of Madeira.
All three are said to have been elderly people whose homes caught fireA thousand people have evacuated from homes and hotels.
Fires have also been blazing on the mainland and there are reports of a fourth death in central Portugal.
The government has triggered the EU Civil Protection Mechanismexternalwhich enables other European states to help.
Italy has already released a Canadair aircraft to join the effort.
Several arrests have been made of people suspected of illegally starting fires.
Forest fires first took hold in the Portuguese mainland on Friday and on the island of Madeiraoff the north-west African coaston Mondayfollowing weeks of dry weather and temperatures above 35C.
On Tuesday the flames encroached on Funchalhome to some 112,000 permanent residents and capital of an island that attracts more than a million tourists per year.,
