The forest fire that since Tuesday affects six municipalities in Tenerife has already consumed more than 2,600 hectares in a perimeter of 31 kilometers, and has forced the confinement of the urban area of ??the population in El Rosario to be decreed.
The fire, which is advancing uncontrollably at some points, affects the municipalities of Arafo, Candelaria, Santa Úrsula, La Matanza, El Rosario and La Orotava
It was a relatively quiet summer in Spain in terms of fires… until now. The one that began on Tuesday night in the Arafo mountains, in the heart of the island of Tenerife, has caused the evacuation or confinement of 7,600 people. Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands, has defined it as “the most complex of the last 40 years in the Islands.”
Clavijo reported at a press conference that in some areas of Arafo and Candelaria, where the fire originated, the flames have been reactivated due to hot spots caused by the embers and the wind. However, he has specified that this specific flank of the fire “seems quite stable” and where it continues to advance out of control is on the north slope.
17 planes are participating in the extinction tasks, three of them from the army. The Ministry of Defense announced in mid-afternoon the departure from Seville of a transport plane with 92 UME troops destined to reinforce the already deployed contingent, for a total of 202 soldiers from the Second Emergency Intervention Battalion (BIEM II ) deployed in Tenerife.
In the EMU they point in the same direction as the president of the Canary Islands. They classify the fire as “particularly difficult and serious.” Smoke columns of up to six kilometers and a microclimate have been generated that is caused, in part, by the orographic characteristics of the island. The great forest mass of Tenerife is an ideal fuel for fire, and the extinction tasks are especially arduous. In many points it is beyond the capacity to extinguish and specific techniques have to be used beyond air attacks, such as widening burns, in such a way that part of the land where the fire is expected to arrive is burned to make the fuel of the fire itself disappear.
To prevent tourists or onlookers from coming to observe the flames, and thus facilitate the work of extinction, measures have been decreed such as the closure of all access to the Teide National Park.
The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, has indicated that it has also been decided to confine the town of El Rosario, located in La Esperanza, due to the abundance of sparks produced by the fire and to clear the roads for the passage of forces of security.
The data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge had been reflecting a good trend that was broken by the fire in Tenerife. Between January 1 and August 6, there have been 1,889 fires, 325 fewer than in 2022 at this point in time. Despite the fact that last July was the hottest month on the planet for as long as there are records, this has not generally translated into an increase in fires or attempts at them.
The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has warned of the symptoms that can be experienced when exposed to smoke caused by a forest fire -coughing, chest discomfort or difficulties breathing deeply, among others- and has recommended that the inhabitants are in places close to the fire, close the windows and doors of their houses, avoid staying outside and use an FFP2 mask.
Turismo de Tenerife has highlighted that the main tourist areas and cities of the island are far from the fire, so that the activity in accommodation establishments, beaches and other tourist places located in the areas near the coast and midlands continues to develop with normal.
The government of the Canary Islands has ordered preventive evacuation in Camino de La Granja, Los Eres, Lomo Juan Lian and the access to Barranco de Añavingo, El Pinalete, Galván, Las Vigas and Los Ramos, in the municipality of Arafo. In La Matanza, the neighborhoods of La Vica and El Pirul have been evicted in the last few hours.
As reported by the regional Executive, this decision is added to the one adopted during the night to confine the entire urban area of ??La Esperanza, in Rosario, as well as to evacuate the upper part of the Hondo ravine, Las Rosas, Los Apaches-Camino La Huerta, in the same municipality of El Rosario, and the eviction of La Resbala and Pinolere in La Orotava.
All this with the aim of guaranteeing the safety of people and allowing greater operation of the firefighting services. These orders affect about 7,600 people, according to the census
In addition, during the early hours of the morning, the area of ??Las Barreras and C/ Preventorio, in El Rosario, as well as the area that goes from Vista La Huerta street and Preventorio street to the Escuela Hogar (TF -274), Camino Los Panascos, were evacuated. Go down to Juan Antonio Díaz street and Las Rosas and Doctor Caldera streets to the General Highway TF -24, in the same municipality. For these people, the municipal Pavilion of El Chorrillo-San Isidro has been set up as a shelter.
In La Orotava, the evacuation of the descent of the Teide Restaurant drinking fountain to La Florida and the Pino Alto neighborhood was also ordered. And the Quiquirá municipal Pavilion was decreed as a meeting point and shelter.
In El Sauzal, the evacuation of the neighborhoods of Baboseras Altas, Camino El Pozo, Lomo Piedra to Calderetas (from San Cristóbal street to the mountain) and La Vica has been decreed.
