The La Palma fire is raised to a Level 2 emergency as it burns uncontrollably

The La Palma Cabildo has increased the alert level of the fire that started in El Paso at midday today, to a level 2 emergency, as it is advancing uncontrollably towards Los Llanos and has affected several farms and homes in the town, and forced the evacuation of more than a hundred residents in the area, with the local sports centre activated as temporary accommodation for them.

The president of La Palma, Mariano H. Zapata, signed the request a few minutes ago to increase the level, which now means that the Government of the Canary Islands will lead the operation, taking over from local services.

The turning point that triggered this decision, occurred when the flames crossed the LP-3 highway, as the fire passed through the football field in Pasadena, moving to areas such as Tendiña and Tajuya. In fact, it has advanced uncontrollably towards Los Llanos de Aridane via the Dos Pinos road, taking even vehicles in its path, and causing damage to commercial infrastructures.

All the island security and emergency personnel and helicopters, will be joined in the next few hours by the resources of the Canary Islands Government which includes Firefighters based in Tenerife, the EIRIF in La Gomera, and El Hierro, and the Military Emergency Unit (UME).

The main handicap, at this time of the afternoon that the authorities have come up against, is that the head of the fire is advancing without control. Hence, they have highlighted the complications that it can cause if it reaches the mountains or if the wind changes direction, an environmental factor that, together with the high temperatures, represents a real stumbling block for extinguishing it.