"Something simple for us can mean a lot to someone who has lost everything. Apart from anything else, foreigners have much higher wages. We can easily give €40 for a microwave. It’s tougher asking this of someone in Portugal who takes €500 home at the end of the month", Joana Godinho, who is responsible for collecting the funds, told Lusa.

Joana decided to start collecting money at the beginning of the week by contacting friends and Portuguese charities in the USA, but soon realised that international bank transfers were a hindrance to the aid.

"There is always a transfer fee that can be as much as €30 on the amount that is transferred. As they are also accepting goods to re-equip the homes of those who were made homeless I saw that it would be easier to buy the things on Continente ‘online’ and send them to the Red Cross", the TV producer said.

The Red Cross accepted the proposal and said that what they needed most were cookers, ovens, microwaves, irons, dishes, bed clothes and towels.

The wild fires in Madeira killed three people and destroyed government and private property worth an estimated €55 million.

The blazes forced the evacuation of homes, hospitals, old-peoples’ homes and hotels.