2023-08-18 20:23:03
The night operation against the forest fire in Tenerife has been able to obtain some fruit after two days of fighting against some flames that have advanced rapidly and unpredictably. “It is the first time that this fire has allowed the operators to work”, highlighted this Friday the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo (Canary Islands Coalition), at a press conference to report on the evolution. The technicians have considered, with great caution, that the “forecasts are good”, although reactivations are expected throughout the day. The affected area reaches 3,797 hectares, and the Canary Islands Government plans to lift the confinement in the urban center of La Esperanza (El Rosario) and maintains around 1,600 people in the areas closest to the fire. The rupture of a water channel in the area of the fire has forced the Cabildo de Tenerife to restrict consumption. The island authorities have made an appeal to rationalize its use, recalling that these days large amounts of water are being taken from the network to extinguish the flames. The Canarian president has also asked that curious people who want to see the fire on the roads not accumulate: “We ask for common sense. We are dealing with a fire. Let’s not hinder the work.”
The temperatures will begin to rise throughout the day, and the highest values will be registered in the high areas of the fire, so the conditions will be unfavorable. As the technicians have pointed out, tonight there will be a change in the direction of the wind, shifting the concentration of smoke to the west of the island, especially in the municipality of Güímar and Valle de La Orotava.
The fire, which started on Tuesday night in the municipality of Arafo, occupies a perimeter of almost 42 kilometers. It affects the districts of eight municipalities (Arafo, Candelaria, El Rosario, La Orotava, Santa Úrsula, La Victoria, El Sauzal and Tacoronte) and has burned forests, mostly in the mount of La Esperanza, population center of El Rosario, and in the forest crown. Some 7,600 people have been confined or evacuated. In the nucleus of La Esperanza, where 3,400 people reside, according to INE data, a confinement was established on Thursday to facilitate the extinction work. This Friday afternoon, the authorities have partially lifted the measure due to the favorable evolution of the fire. The head of Civil Protection, Montserrat Román, has indicated that the restriction is lifted for the areas of La Esperanza furthest from the forest mass, but its residents are asked to limit vehicle mobility to what is strictly necessary. Still 1,671 residents remain confined to their homes. To care for the displaced population, shelters have been set up in El Rosario, La Orotava, Candelaria, El Sauzal and La Matanza.
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The orography and the existence of dry fuel due to the high temperatures of the last days complicated the extinction tasks from the first day. The technical head of Forest Risk, Pedro Martínez, explained this Friday that the night shift has been calm and that they have been able to work. “It is possible that the red colors have disappeared, but the material is still hot, as the hours go by they will revive with the heat, and the perimeter is still active, with smoke,” he explained. Overnight there have been no new evictions. “The forecasts are good, the colleagues who have been there tell us that they find it quite cold, except for specific points, but we hope that there will be reactivations throughout the day,” he detailed. “We are cautious, we are going to see how the morning evolves”, he added.
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There are 15 air means working in the area, 265 intervention personnel, 120 people in charge of security and 40 in charge of logistics. The incorporation of 36 members of the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades (BRIF) from the Peninsula and another 13 firefighters from Fuerteventura have been announced to give relief and rest to the members who are now working.
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The 60 members of the Military Emergency Unit have been protecting urban centers from the advance of fire overnight, as their captain explained in an interview on RTVE’s La hora de la 1. The command has stressed that the orography is so complicated that it prevents land action. He has also highlighted the large amount of fuel for the fire for the last few days in which there have been very high temperatures. “Progress [durante la noche] It has not been very striking, with the heat it will be revived ”, he has predicted.
The BRIF, dependent on the Ministry of Ecological Transition, have experienced a “hard and complicated night” while trying to contain, together with firefighters, the descending front of the fire on the Siete Fuentes track, in the municipality of La Victoria de Acentejo. “The changes in the wind have generated sparks jumping over the control lines,” they wrote in a message on social networks.
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