SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Aug. 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, admitted this Wednesday that the forest fire that broke out late this Tuesday in Arafo, in Tenerife, is “very strong” and is in a “complicated” area.
Clavijo, in a press conference together with different heads of institutions and fire management, pointed out that the fire was declared in the Arafo mountains starting at 11:36 p.m. on August 15, on the TF-523, affecting “for the moment” to the municipalities of Arafo and Candelaria, and currently being under the direction of the Government of the Canary Islands, at emergency level 2, after around 05:00 this Wednesday morning the level increase was raised before the “power and force of fire”.
The work carried out at night, he explains, has focused on the ground, since at night air resources cannot operate, although a reconnaissance flight was carried out first thing in the morning, activating the air resources, which currently number 11, of which 10 are in the process of extinction and one for coordination.
In addition, given the rise in level, it has been possible to activate the Military Emergency Unit (UME), which indicated that it will transfer “all the troops, around 50”, who are being incorporated.
Clavijo has been “very prudent” about how this fire can evolve because he has insisted that it is “very strong and is in a complicated area”, for which all the work has been concentrated mainly so that “the fire does not go down and it can affect homes and the population.
However, he stated that “perhaps” in the northernmost part, in the northeast, “it is very difficult” to access, hence it is necessary to hope that in those areas the firebreaks and the highway “do containment work” because, in principle, “it is very complicated”. He admitted that these first hours “are going to be fundamental”, which is why he has insisted on being “very careful”.
The Canarian president has indicated that he has spoken with the acting Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, as well as the acting Minister of Tourism, Héctor Gómez, and has WhatsApped with the acting Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, to to be able to act with the means that the Ministry has in the Canary Islands, without ruling out that during the day of this Wednesday they request more air resources from the central government.
STOP THE ADVANCE TOWARDS INHABITED AREAS
For his part, the technical manager Pedro Martín, who has analyzed the evolution of the forest fire, has indicated that the objective is currently to stop the advance towards inhabited areas.
Martín explained that the fire started in a pine forest area, “reaching the upper part, quite close to the ridge”, with a wind like this one in the upper part, pushing in the direction of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, while the winds of hillside “helped it advance downwards, towards the town”, for this reason from the first moment “the attack was mainly concentrated on stopping that advance”.
In this context, he said, a control line has appeared to try to prevent the fire from spreading, which has been established on the road between approximately 7.5 kilometers and 11 kilometers, and it is in this area where both firefighters and Brifor are acting to try not to move in that direction.
Work is also being done on the west flank, since it is the one that allows them to approach it and work, where he pointed out that the work is being “quite effective”, hence one of the main objectives of the day is to “stop the advance toward inhabited areas, toward the south, and prevent the fire from spreading toward the west” in the event of a foreseeable change in wind direction.
Regarding the eastern area of the forest fire, he pointed out that “it is well adjusted” to the Chaza valley or the Chaza ravine, which is “boxed in”, in such a way that the media “cannot access”, and just before dawn there were already penetrated, causing the fire to spread “quite intensely” because it “channels a lot of fuel” opening the network and culminating right at the ridge, causing secondary outbreaks to the north, towards the La Victoria area.
In this area, an attempt is being made to tackle these outbreaks with aerial measures, however, he has qualified that the planning that was scheduled for the morning of this day “is being redirected to attempt an attack on the north slope with already improvable conditions” and to try to pocket the fire and not go down the north slope.
For her part, the meteorologist Vicky Palma has indicated that after an episode of “very complicated” weather conditions in the archipelago due to heat, one of the “most important” in recent years, there was a “significant vegetation stress situation”. , being the activity of the fire “very important”.
He added that although the temperatures are “notably cooler” than during the weekend, in the upper area, the area of the ridge, it will continue to be hot this day with temperatures that will probably exceed 20 degrees maximum.
To this he added that the air is still dry and with relative humidity that is not expected to exceed 30 percent, although the wind could play “a bit in favor”, since in general it is weak both in the median area and in the dorsal area.
Regarding the latter, he said that in the lower areas of the fire what there is “is a rising breeze from the sea towards the upper area of the island and, in principle, what the prediction speaks of is that the maximum gusts are the lower”.
COMMAND POST IN ARAFO
The advanced command post is going to be installed in Arafo, in the Andrés Orozco School, also providing a space for evicted people who need it, although it has been stressed that up to now the evacuated areas correspond mainly to farms and second homes .
Currently, there are five families that have been evicted, although it is expected that there will be more throughout the day.
For her part, the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, has admitted that the fire is in a “steep” area, that during the morning shift more than 150 people fight after the work of the more than 50 troops who have been front at night.
DO NOT CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN “AT ANY POINT” ON TENERIFE
Dávila has taken the opportunity to ask the entire population “not to access” the mountain area at “any point” on the island of Tenerife and, above all, in the area where the fire is.
He also added that all the mayors in the north have been asked to “cut off all access to the mountain” because it is “quite likely” that throughout the day the “fire will cross the ridge”, since it is “very complicated” and it is a “steep, very difficult to work from land” area.
For this reason, he stressed that the “fundamental objective right now is to prevent any incident.”
EVACUATIONS
Within the framework of prevention, he explained, it is also where the evacuations are carried out. Currently, the areas of Arrate, Chivisaya, Media Montaña and Ajafona have been evicted, as well as the closure of the TF-24 highway, between Las Lagunetas and El Portillo, and the TF-523, Los Loros Road.
Dávila added that other evacuations will also take place in the Arafo area. Specifically, he qualified, from kilometer 3 of the TF-523, people who are in that area will be evicted in order to “act with time.”
He added that although there are two pavilions enabled, “at the moment a massive eviction is not needed.”
On the origin of the fire, they indicated that it is the Civil Guard who is investigating it, pointing out the Canarian president that there were several outbreaks, while they have not wanted to advance the burned hectares for the moment because there was no fixed data.
