The Tenerife fire, which broke out on Thursday morning, continues to burn and continues to spread, and now affects five municipalities: Los Realejos, San Juan de la Rambla, La Guancha, La Orotava, and Icod de Los Vinos. There is now concern that it will head go down to some populated areas of La Orotava, as the unpredictability of the wind is making it even harder to control.
The area affected by the fire had reached 2,156 hectares (5,327 acres or 21.5 million m2) by last night with a perimeter of 20 kilometres, although the situation is "better than we expected," said the Canary Islands president, Ángel Víctor Torres. "This morning there were 2,000 hectares burned, so during the day the progress of the fire has slowed down, which is some good news," he said.
The president told the media after going to the Advanced Command Post (PMA) that the condition during the day "has been better than expected" due to the increase in humidity and the reduction in the intensity of the wind (which is now below 30 kilometres per hour) which "is in our favour to control it", although the high temperature continues to be a problem.
He also clarified that the fire is not advancing as fast as the ‘big’ one of 2007, which spread rapidly due to the fact that winds of up to 70 km/h were registered at that time.
In this sense, the authorities point out that there is a forecast that the weather will worsen from Sunday to Monday night, so "we have to take advantage of daylight hours to try to contain the fire thanks to the work being carried out by more than 150 firefighters, plus all the other security forces and military.”
There are now more than 60 homes that have been preventively evacuated in the municipalities of Los Realejos and La Orotava, although for the moment they have been rehoused in the homes of family and friends.
However, the Las Llanadas Sports Centre has been set up as a provisional meeting point for the relocation of those affected to hotels in Los Realejos or the San Juan de la Rambla Sports Centre. He affirmed that “we must be on the lookout, since the fire has been spreading”, being the source of most concern the branch that is heading towards the Valle de La Orotava, the nucleus with the largest population.
A thermographic image shows extent of the fire and the heat (UME)
On the other hand, Ángel Víctor Torres has also asked for a lot of caution, "no one can approach the affected areas." In addition, several roads have been closed, including the TF-21, which connects La Orotava with El Portillo in the Teide National Park.
The head of the Civil Protection service, Montserrat Román, said that almost 600 people have been evacuated due to the advance of the fire in Tigaiga, and the different control manoeuvres that were being carried out on that slope.
She highlighted the south winds descending towards the evacuated area and pointed out that in Los Realejos, San Juan de la Rambla and La Guancha, it will be urban firefighters who will protect the homes.
Román also said that a sea of clouds and haze is expected for today (Sunday), with difficulties in the early hours for the visibility of aerial means. She stressed that the humidity will be 35% in the morning but will drop throughout the day, and despite the changes in the wind, the gusts are expected to be weak, although a strategy of "reinforcement, control and surveillance" will be carried out to stop it spreading.
This weekend the islands are on pre-alert for haze, as well as on pre-alert for maximum temperatures that could reach an average of 36ºC, and even higher locally in sheltered areas. The alert for forest fires is also maintained throughout the weekend. In Tenerife, the prohibition of access to all forest areas of the Island is still in place.
