The Tenerife fire is close to being stabilized, although the heat maintains the risk of reactivations

The fire in Tenerife, which has already charred 14,751 hectares, continues to evolve favorably with some hot spots in Aguamansa, La Orotava and Güímar, on which the extinguishing teams have acted. The technicians have still requested caution this Thursday due to the high temperatures registered on the island, which maintain the risk of occasional reactivations. There are still some access roadblocks to the Teide National Park. The air quality is very unfavorable in the north of the island and the experts ask to follow the recommendations —not to leave the house or to wear a mask—, especially at night. A total of 3,109 people remain displaced far from their homes.

The acting Vice President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, today visited the Arafo Advanced Command Post, where she expressed her confidence that the fire would be stabilized throughout the day. “Fortunately, the perimeter has not changed for more than 24 hours and the work is concentrated on sources where there is still fire but, above all, on refrigerating and consolidating that security perimeter,” Ribera explained in an interview on Television Canaria collected by Europa Press.

The minister highlighted the need to be prepared to face increasingly “more frequent and intense” fires as a consequence of the harsher weather conditions in interface zones, those areas halfway between the forest zone and the urban zone, which endangers the population, stressed Ribera. She has also qualified that the fires no longer have a fixed season because “they can occur throughout the year” and that “forces” to have permanent devices throughout the year. The minister has recalled the fires in Canada, Turkey or Greece and has shown her conviction that they are a consequence of climate change.

The night, as reported by the Canary Islands government, has developed calmly and without incident. But first thing in the morning there was a traffic accident at Brifor del Cabildo de Tenerife: the vehicle left the road and hit a tree on the ascent to Las Raíces (El Rosario). One of the occupants has been injured, although he has not required hospitalization.

During this Thursday, the extinction operation will continue working on the perimeter consolidation work and the aerial means will continue to unload in specific areas, especially in the Las Dehesas area, in Güímar. The ground device will be made up of more than 600 troops, of which about 300 carry out firefighting work, 197 in security, 40 in logistics and more than 100 volunteers.

The area affected by the fire —the most serious that Spain has experienced so far this year— remains at 14,751 hectares and a perimeter of 90 kilometers. The favorable evolution of the fire has allowed most of the residents to return to their homes, who had been evacuated since the 15th, when the fire started in Arafo and Candelaria. During Tuesday afternoon, 8,355 people from the municipalities of La Victoria and Los Realejos returned, as well as most of the residents of El Rosario, El Sauzal, La Matanza, Santa Úrsula and La Orotava. There are still 3,109 evicted people.

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