FOREST FIRE UPDATE: Fire perimeter is now 1,100 hectares

The Air Force has announced they have dispatched two more water planes to help fight the forest fire in Tenerife, which currently affects at least 750 hectares in the municipality of Arico. The actual perimeter that the emergency services are covering is 1,100 hectares, an area of 11 square kilometres, to contain the fire.

Currently, seven aerial means and a ground team made up of more than 170 emergency personnel from different administrations are working to try to control the fire, which started in the Chajaña ravine.

The air resources are four helicopters from the GES of the Government of the Canary Islands, one from the Cabildo de Tenerife, a seaplane from the Air Force and a helicopter from the Guardia Civil. The Air Force has announced on its Twitter account that two more aircraft will fly from Madrid to support the deployment.

Currently there is an eeriness across much of Tenerife as the sun is obscurred by a blanket of smoke from the fire that you can smell in the air, and many roof terraces have remnants of ash from the passing smoke cloud.

The President of the Canary Islands Government, Ángel Víctor Torres, has flown back from FITUR to visit Arico this morning, to check the status of the forest fire with the emergency co-ordinators, who have maintained it as a level 2 emergency.

The president confirmed that the fire can last two days and worries about its evolution due to the wind conditions, especially a part of it that is heading in the direction of Granadilla to the south, is of concern, although the predictions indicate that the temperature will drop and the humidity will rise, although it is likely that the wind could increase. "You have to be very attentive and take maximum precaution," he commented.

Torres explained that at the moment it is a ground fire that is not affecting the treetops, adding that in this situation the best news is that there is no risk for any of the population centres and that there have been no evacuations.

"The ground forces are working as are the aircraft: five helicopters and a FOCA seaplane; in addition another will arrive today and a third will join tomorrow," he said, praising the 300 people who are fighting the flames, among them the UME, firefighters of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, the AIREF of La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro.