A helicopter during firefighting operations following the reactivation of the forest fire in the upper area of La Orotava, this Wednesday.
The heat wave that the Canary Islands is experiencing and the low humidity have led to up to seven reactivations in the vicinity of the forest fire that has ravaged the island of Tenerife since August 15th. The latter led to the island council preemptively expelling around 3,000 people from the area this Wednesday. Specifically, about 2,400 live in the La Corujera neighborhood in the municipality of Santa Úrsula and another 600 in Pino Alto, in La Orotava, whose city council has made possible the Quiquirá Pavilion to accommodate those affected.
Two helicopters from the Cabildo, two from the central government and two helicopters from the Eirif of La Palma, belonging to the Government of the Canary Islands, are operating in the area, as well as ground personnel and material resources from the forestry brigades of the Cabildo (Brifor) and the Tenerife Fire Brigade Consortium. However, company sources have indicated that two of the springs have already been stabilized, although the smoke columns are very noticeable as blackberry bushes and heather burn.
The Director of Security and Emergencies of the island, Iván Martín, recalled this Wednesday that this type of reactivation is common and can last for several days due to weather conditions. “It is an underground fire that is still active and if it reaches a radiata pine or a tree stump it will burn and can cause these small reactivations,” he added. “We are letting the teams work and although the smoke and flames cause a certain alarm, the technicians tell us that they are common and that they will continue to occur in the coming days.” Martín has called on citizens to take extreme precautions and if possible, not to go into the mountains and in any case follow the instructions of the authorities.
This Wednesday the islands recorded the highest temperatures in all of Spain. In fact, the Government of the Canary Islands has declared an alarm situation on both the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife due to the maximum temperatures. Temperatures of 39.4 degrees were recorded at Tenerife South Airport, a value that exceeds the previous record for the month of October, which was set on October 14, 2017 at 38.6 degrees.
Early in the morning of August 15, a fire broke out between the communities of Arafo and Candelaria. The government of the Canary Islands did not consider the situation to be stabilized until ten days later. During this period, the flames burned 14,700 hectares, about 7.1% of the area of the largest of the Canary Islands. The damage extended over a 90-kilometer radius to 12 communities, figures that made this fire the most devastating of all fires in 2023. The emergency was not considered under control until September 11th. It never died out completely.
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