On Friday, the firefighting operations progressed “well, even if the fire is still out of control”, the head of the regional government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavejo, told reporters Friday.
Clavejo pointed out that the fire that broke out on Tuesday evening swept nearly 5,000 hectares within a 50-kilometre radius.
The head of the civil protection service in the archipelago, Montserrat Roman, said that more than 225 firefighters were still working Friday-Saturday night to combat this fire, which has so far affected ten municipalities.
It indicated that 19 air units will be deployed on Saturday to continue operations that may be further complicated by high temperatures and strong winds.
Partial lifting of home quarantine
Roman pointed out that the authorities recorded a “positive development” on the main front of the fire, which “spread in a more natural way during the night,” which eased the difficulties for firefighting personnel.
In turn, Clavijo said, “In the previous two nights, we witnessed unusual winds, unusual temperatures, and an unusual development of the fire.”
Despite the high humidity on the night of Thursday to Friday and the calm winds that facilitate the extinguishing operations, meteorologists warned of a new rise in temperatures at the end of this week in Tenerife.
The improvement of the situation on Friday allowed the easing of the chokehold of the house stone in the vicinity of the town of La Esperanza, close to the northern front of the fire, where the efforts of the firefighters are concentrated.
Almost 4,500 people have been evacuated since the fire broke out, while about 1,700 people were still stuck in their homes on Friday, after they were about 4,000 hours earlier, according to a tally reported by Roman.
Red Cross volunteers have set up camp beds in a gymnasium in the town of La Orotaba to house the displaced, an AFP photographer said.
The Teide National Tourist Park remains closed since Thursday evening.
The smoke from the fire, which can be seen in satellite images, covered the summit of the Teide volcano, which is the highest peak in Spain at an altitude of 3715 meters, while the main foci of the fire are located on forested hills about 20 kilometers away, near several villages.
An AFP correspondent from the sea saw thick smoke covering the forests, and the wind was unable to dispel it.
‘most complex’ fire
Tenerife has previously witnessed larger fires in terms of burning area, especially in 2007, but weather conditions and the topography of the Spanish island prompted Clavijo Thursday to say that the archipelago is facing the “most complex” fire on its territory in 40 years.
The authorities indicated that the fire created “its own weather conditions”, including a smoke cloud at an altitude of several kilometers.
The fire broke out between two heat waves on the island, which includes many dry areas, which increases the risk of forest fires.
Scientists say that human-caused global warming exacerbates natural disasters, increasing their frequency and lethality.
In 2022, Spain was the European country most affected by about 500 fires and the destroyed areas amounted to 300,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Since the beginning of the year, fires have destroyed more than 75,000 hectares in Spain, which is one of the European countries most vulnerable to climate change.
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2023-08-19 11:40:10
