emergencies
Forest fire on Tenerife already covers 10,000 hectares
A helicopter throws water at the flames as the fire spreads through the forest towards the town of Pinolere. photo
© Arturo Rodriguez/AP/dpa
The situation on the Canary Island remains tense. In the north and northeast of Tenerife, thousands have already had to leave their homes. Hundreds of emergency services are fighting the flames.
The forest fire on the Canary Island, which is popular with holidaymakers Tenerife is still out of control. The flames have so far covered around 10,000 hectares of nature, said the Canary Prime Minister Fernando Clavijo on Sunday. This corresponds to the area of almost 14,000 football pitches. The good news is that the entire southern front of the fire is “very stable.” The northern fire area is worrying.
According to official estimates, the number of people who have had to leave their homes because of the fire in the north and north-east of the island is more than 12,000. This estimate is based on the population of the eleven affected communities. At first, a spokeswoman for the authorities even spoke of around 26,000 evacuees on Saturday. This number was later revised significantly downwards. Injured or destroyed houses were not initially reported.
The cause of the fire that broke out late Tuesday evening near the municipality of Arafo was still unclear. According to the Canary Emergency Service, more than 340 emergency services fought the flames on Sunday night. After daybreak, firefighting planes and helicopters would be used again, it said. The number will be increased from 19 to 23 on Sunday.
Difficult to access terrain
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said at the end of his visit to Tenerife on Saturday: “We can feel reasonably safe and can hope that we can get the fire under control in the next few days if the weather cooperates.” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a visit to the island for Monday.
According to the Canary Islands’ heads of government, this is one of the worst fires in Tenerife in the past 40 years. According to official information, the extinguishing work was made more difficult from the start because of the difficult-to-access terrain, the adverse weather conditions and the heavy smoke development. According to official information, normality continued to prevail in the tourist areas of the island.