The fire that has already devastated more than 3,200 hectares on the Spanish island of Tenerife is “probably the most complicated” in recent decades in the Canary Islands, the president of the regional government stressed Thursday.
The fire, which started on Tuesday night, devastates a wooded area and ravines in the northeast of the island, an archipelago located off the west coast of Africa, and has consumed more than 3,200 hectares, according to the latest report from the authorities.
The government decreed today the confinement of the town of La Esperanza, in the municipality of Rosario, while a dozen small towns or hamlets in this tourist region were evacuated as a precaution.
Around 3,000 people were evacuated from their homes, while around 4,000 asked to stay indoors to avoid smoking.
“The night was very hard (…) This fire is probably the most complicated we have had in the Canary Islands (…) at least in the last 40 years,” stressed the president of the government of the archipelago, Fernando Clavijo, during a press conference in Tenerife.
“Extreme heat and weather conditions (…) complicate the work of firefighters,” he added.
More than 250 people, in addition to 17 aircraft, are mobilized to fight the flames, including the Military Emergency Unit (UME), which periodically intervenes together with the firefighters to fight the most voracious or dangerous fires for the population.
“We are facing a fire like we have never seen in the Canary Islands”, stressed the meteorologist Vicky Palma, referring to a record smoke column and a continuous duration of the flames of 34 hours.
Local authorities have closed the roads leading to the mountains in the northeast of the island.
The fire follows a heat wave that has swept across the Canary Islands and left many areas parched, increasing the risk of wildfires.
According to scientists, extreme weather events are intensifying due to global warming, with more frequent and intense heat waves and their more widespread impact expected.
In 2022, 300,000 hectares were destroyed by more than 500 fires in Spain, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). More than 71,000 hectares have already burned in 2023 in this country.
Source: TSF
