Two villages have been destroyed in Cape Verde and a forest reserve is threatened by the massive eruption of the Pico do Fogo volcano.

Fire brigade chief Arlindo Lima told Sky News that 1,500 people fled their homes before the lava destroyed the villages of Portela and Bengeira on Fogo Island.

“The lava front, (which was) more than 500 metres north of outlying houses in Bangeira a week ago, has swept over much of the village and continues to move forward,” Chief Lima told Sky News.

The country’s interior minister is calling on residents to not panic despite the fact “the eruption was very fast.”

“There’s a whole local economy and a whole way of life that the volcano has claimed in the space of just 22 days,” Arlinda Neves, a local journalist, said after the villages of Portela and Bangeira were destroyed.  “It’s more than a century and a half of history that has literally been wiped out.”

Officials are warning those in the village of Fonsaco to be prepared to leave as the lava flow moves toward their homes.