ORnot one of the biggest fires in the history of the Canary Islands is attacking the mountains of Tenerife since last Wednesday, August 16, and continues uncontrolled destroying everything in its path.
After two nights where the firefighting teams could barely work due to the conditions of the fire, the last night was the first considered normal in the behavior of fire, which helped the work of the troops.
There are already nine municipalities affectedof which the most affected have been Arafo and Candelaria, where more than 1,400 hectares burned in each of the places. This fire seems far from stabilizing, but even more to be considered controlled.
According to the words of the adviser of the Council of Tenerife and meteorologist, vicky palmin Televisión Canaria, patience will have to be high, because the fire looks like it will be long. So much so that, once the perimeter of the flames is stabilized and controlled, “It will take weeks and even months to consider this huge forest fire under control.“.
Once the flames of a fire have ceased, there is further cooling and control work that must be carried out. When these tasks are completed, it is when the fire will be considered controlled.
The use of retardant
A new strategy is being carried out in the seaplane discharges in order to slow down the fire as much as possible. As explained by the technician Pedro Martínez, “The proposed strategy is going to be based on retarding work to make a line from La Esperanza to Igueste in order to stop completely or gain time for subsequent operations”.
Refering to North Zone“the front of Santa Úrsula has opened up a little more because they are very deep ravines, so currently not even the aerial means have been able to make effective discharges in that area”.
The source of greatest concern is that of La Orotava, where “a defensive strategy has been made and distributed small means to wait for the fire and make a defense of the infrastructures. The fire is spreading in this area due to the burning rolling elements.”
I am going for a holiday next week ( Aug.23 ) to Fanabe and am highly allergic to smoke and ash.Could someone living in the area of Fanabe please tell me if there is the smell of smoke in the air or any ash in the air please ? Thank-you very much !