The Government of the Canary Islands considers the Tenerife fire stabilized

The Government of the Canary Islands has stabilized the forest fire that broke out in Tenerife at dawn on August 16. Nine days later, the flames have managed to burn 14,700 hectares, about 7.1% of the surface of the largest of the Canary Islands. The damage extends in a perimeter of 90 kilometers throughout 12 municipalities, figures that make this fire the most damaging of those that have occurred in 2023.

The president of the Canary Islands himself, Fernando Clavijo, was in charge of advancing the stabilization of the flames at a press conference this Thursday night. Clavijo reported that there are no evacuated people left, although he wanted to point out that there is still a lot of heat on the island and, therefore, “small reactivations” are to be expected in the affected area. “But there are sufficient land and air resources to intervene and act forcefully,” he added. Consequently, it will be normal for the population to see many smoky spots that will decrease over the next few days. Likewise, Clavijo insisted on the importance of maintaining prudence for the weekend and recommended not going up the mountain if it is not necessary since the extinction operation will continue working.

The President of the Canary Islands has thanked the citizens for their exemplary behavior and their “unbeatable” work to the entire extinction device. Likewise, he highlighted the solidarity of all the islands and the Government of Spain, providing essential means to achieve the stabilization of the fire. Clavijo has advanced that the work to quantify the environmental and economic damage will begin shortly. The president has recognized that the declaration of an area seriously affected by a civil protection emergency, previously called a catastrophic area, will help to establish aid and some tax exemptions for those affected. He understands, in any case, that he too “must be accompanied by budget items” to guarantee environmental regeneration.

For her part, the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, insisted that the fire is not controlled, which is why she called on the public to act prudently and take extreme precautions in light of the notice from the State Agency for Meteorology (Aemet) due to high temperatures.

The stabilization of the fire now allows for a progressive de-escalation of resources, so this Friday a ground unit of 195 troops and 16 air resources will work in the area. Dávila has indicated that the fire could have reached up to 33,000 hectares and would have affected up to 15,000 homes if “quick” action had not been taken, stressing that there have been no deaths or loss of homes.

Pedro Martínez, head of the Forestry Technical Service, indicated that the fire is “no longer growing”, although its limits can be exceeded “at times”, especially in ravines and ridges, and acknowledged that it is necessary to begin to “smooth the shifts of personnel”. Martínez stressed that it may “take a long time” to control the fire because “the perimeter is very long.”

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