End of July. More than 30 degrees of temperature, less than 30% humidity and gusts of wind of more than 30 kilometers per hour in the forest crown. In the worst conditions, a fire breaks out again next to a track in Los Campeches, in the upper area of Los Realejos, the place with the most outbreaks and fires recorded in Tenerife in the last two decades. The alarm went off around 10:19 a.m. and very soon all available resources were activated, including aerial means. Despite the quick reaction, the fire spread through the forest crown of Los Realejos and in a few hours reached San Juan de la Rambla and reached the limits of La Guancha. The first great fire of the summer started where almost always; It is advancing uncontrollably in the North, raising fears that the story of July 2007 could repeat itself. Fifteen years ago, the flames razed more than 15,000 hectares in ten municipalities, reaching the village of Masca and forcing the evacuation of 8,500 people from their homes.
This new fire in Los Campeches affected some 110 hectares in its first eight hours, especially pine forests, although some tongues of fire ventured down to areas of crops and Baluto land, with abundant flammable material such as brambles and dry ferns. At first it was concentrated in high mountain areas, but the possibility of changes in the wind and the proximity of some populated areas of San Juan de la Rambla forced the northern City Council to evict 38 residents of El Andén, Lomo Hurtado and Fuente del Bardo, according to the mayor, Ezequiel Domínguez. The Minister of Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, Julio Pérez, later lowered that figure to 31 people (28 adults and 3 minors). To avoid risks, the City Council of La Guancha collaborated in the eviction of 60 boys and girls who remained in the El Lagar camp, located in the possible path of the fire.
Forces on the ground.
More than 200 troops are part of the device deployed on land, in which firefighting personnel from the Cabildo de Tenerife participate; the Tenerife Firefighters Consortium; EIRIF teams from the Government of the Canary Islands based in La Gomera; the BRIF brigades of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge; the Military Emergency Unit (UME); security agents of the Local Police, State Security Forces and Corps (Civil Guard and National Police) and the General Corps of the Canarian Police, as well as means of Civil Protection, the Canary Islands Emergency Service, AEA and the Spanish Red Cross. The Advanced Command Post is located in the Medianías Market in San Juan de la Rambla, where the Media Reception Center (CRM) is also located. Brifor has an outpost on the TF-344 road, near Fuente del Bardo.
aerial media.
During the afternoon, a total of ten aerial means were acting: two from the Cabildo, three from the Government of the Canary Islands and four from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, in addition to the Civil Guard helicopter, in aerial coordination functions with the General Directorate of the Government of the Canary Islands . Counselor Julio Pérez explained yesterday afternoon that the air resources activated are considered sufficient, although the presence of some of the seaplanes that are now in peninsular territory has been requested. Their participation is now compromised by the number of fires that affect several autonomous communities.
Affected surface.
In the balance offered around six in the afternoon this Thursday, the Government of the Canary Islands calculates that there are around 110 hectares affected, between pine forests and scrubland. With a perimeter of 5 kilometers. Changes in the wind and the impossibility of using aerial means at night open up a period of several hours of uncertainty regarding the trajectory of the fire.
Level change.
The forest fire that started at 10:19 a.m. in the Los Campeches area was upgraded to Level 2 at 2:00 p.m., at the request of the Cabildo de Tenerife. This implies that the Government of the Canary Islands assumed the direction of the emergency, in application of what is dictated by the Special Plan for Civil Protection and Emergency Attention for Forest Fires in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands (Infoca).
Evictions.
After the preventive evictions from the Lagar campsite and residents of the Fuente del Bardo, Lomo Hurtado and El Andén boulevards, the Cabildo de Tenerife ordered the closure and eviction of the camping areas and recreational areas located on the mountain between Santa Úrsula and Icod de los Vinos, where it was only necessary to intervene with a small number of hikers.
Emergency shelters.
The City Council of San Juan de la Rambla and the Red Cross yesterday prepared an emergency shelter in the municipal pavilion of San José, with capacity for 50 people. Until the closing of this edition, it had not been necessary to put it into use because all the evicted were relocated to the homes of relatives and friends, according to the mayor of the municipality, Ezequiel Domínguez. La Guancha also has everything ready in case it is necessary to “reconvert Colegio Plus Ultra into an emergency shelter.”
Closed entrances.
The Cabildo de Tenerife issued a resolution temporarily prohibiting access, both on foot and by any other means, to public forests within the Corona Forestal Natural Park in the municipalities of La Orotava, Los Realejos, San Juan de La Rambla, La Guancha and Icod de Los Vinos. With this measure, the Island Corporation wants to guarantee the safety of the population in the face of a possible unfavorable evolution of the fire and prevent the extinction work from being hindered. Passage will only be allowed, if it is essential, to access livestock farms for the purpose of caring for or rescuing animals. The prohibition will remain until its cancellation is declared by express resolution, once the extinction work has been completed. A large part of the TF-344 has also been closed to traffic.
Causes still unknown.
The authorities have not yet confirmed the causes that caused this fire, but the first existing image of the start of the fire, captured by a tourist helicopter from the company Helidream Canarias, places it on a curve in a track just on the limits of the areas of crops with the forest crown. However, the history of numerous fires caused in that area raises fears that it may be, once again, an intentional fire. In the great fire of July 2007, both the insular president Ricardo Melchior and the insular councilor for the Environment, Wladimiro Rodríguez Brito, acknowledged that the presence of several arsonists was suspected in that area, where, in years prior to 2007, “more than a hundred attempts”, which meant around 50% of all the fires on the island. The Los Realejos City Council itself had held a security meeting this Wednesday with the National Police, the Local Police and the Civil Guard to increase surveillance after an attempt that had been registered last Friday, July 15, in an area near the origin of this new fire that threatens the north of Tenerife.
