Fire in Tenerife: firefighters request evacuation

2023-08-20 17:28:00

The fire, which broke out on Tuesday evening in a mountainous region in the northeast of the island, has already devoured an area of ​​11,600 hectares over a perimeter of 84 km, or regarding 6% of the total area of ​​​​the island. . Regional authorities said more than 12,000 people had been forced to flee from the blaze. This disaster represents the largest fire ever experienced by the archipelago located off the west coast of Africa.

Despite forecasts of a difficult night with rising winds and temperatures, the situation turned out to be “much better than expected”, according to Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands regional government. The latter added that the firefighters had worked intensively to save the houses from the fire and that no homes had been lost, which is almost a miracle.

During the night, no evacuation or confinement was necessary, as confirmed by Montserrat Román, head of the civil protection department of the archipelago. However, during the day on Sunday, local authorities were forced to evacuate the luxury Parador hotel, located in the heart of Teide National Park, without specifying the number of people affected.

Thick clouds of smoke

A total of 610 people battled the blaze on Sunday, in addition to 20 air units working to bring the flames under control. Emergency services revealed that nearly 1.5 million liters of water had been poured onto the flames on Saturday during 930 flight operations.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is expected on the island on Monday to assess the situation. So far, this fire has affected 11 municipalities in Tenerife, the largest of the seven Canary Islands with an area of ​​203,400 hectares. Emergency services also reported poor air quality across much of the island due to smoke from the flames.

Pedro Martinez, head of forest services, called the fire the sixth generation because of its scale. Firefighters’ efforts are hampered by thick clouds of smoke and windy conditions. A large cloud of smoke, visible in satellite images and measuring eight kilometers in height, formed from the flames. This cloud even exceeds the summit of Teide, the highest point in Spain with an altitude of 3,715 meters.