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The weather complicates the work against the fire
An investigation is underway to locate the alleged perpetrators of the fire
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Aug. 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The forest fire that began on the night of August 15 on Mount Arafo, on the island of Tenerife, continues to be out of extinguishing capacity after a night in which the weather complicated the work of professionals, and it is expected that the same will continue. conditions during the day this Saturday. Despite the voracity of the calls, the work has meant that for the moment there is no need to regret the loss of homes.
This was revealed this Saturday during the press conference at 11:30 a.m. to update the information on the evolution of the fire.
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, explained that during the night “reality exceeded expectations.” “The weather has been really severe with the fire conditions. The winds, the temperatures and the circumstances were worse than expected,” he said.
YOU ARE IN AN INTERMEDIATE SCENARIO
However, the work carried out in the last hours has meant that the worst scenario has not been reached despite very adverse conditions, with the fire being in an intermediate scenario of the three expected.
At present there are three main fronts: one in the Hoya Marcial that is burning slowly; another in Santa Úrsula with a slope in which it is impossible to put personnel due to the steepness of the orography; and the front that has motivated the evacuations during the last hours.
“The technicians point out that the circumstances are exceptional, it is a hungry fire and with a quite unusual behavior in that the weather complicates it,” said the president.
LOCATE THE ALLEGED AUTHORS OF THE FIRE
Meanwhile, he explained in the same way that there are several lines of investigation to try to locate the people who have foreseeably caused the fire.
For his part, Clavijo commented that three people have been located who broke the seals in the Las Lagunetas area and tried to carry out fire-fighting maneuvers without authorization, people who have been identified and will be penalized administratively and criminally.
THERE IS STILL NO UPDATE OF AFFECTED HECTARES
The technical director of the emergency, Montse Román, stated that there is still no updated data on affected hectares, so the data from last night is maintained.
In them, it was pointed out that the fire has affected some 5,000 hectares for the moment in a perimeter that covers about 50 kilometers in eleven municipalities, affecting the forest mass (pine forest), mostly in the mount of La Esperanza and the forest crown, without for the moment having to regret the loss of homes.
By municipalities, Arafo has an affectation of 44% of the fire; Candlemas of 35%; Santa Úrsula of 20%; The Victory of Acentejo of 15%; The Rosary of 13%; El Sauzal 7%; La Orotava 5%; The Slaughter of 4%; and Tacoronte of 1%, pending to see what is the affectation in the municipality of Güímar.
A DIMENSION “NEVER SEEN IN THE CANARY ISLANDS”
The president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, has commented that the fire already affects eleven municipalities and that it has a dimension “never seen in the Canary Islands” since there are records of this type of situation.
The fire from a moment was in a critical situation and out of extinguishing capacity, so the first objective has been to preserve lives.
A TOTAL OF 265 PERSONNEL AND 19 AIR RESOURCES
Meanwhile, during the day this Saturday, 265 troops will work on extinction work by land –Cabildo de Tenerife (Brifor); Firefighters from the Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote and Fuerteventura Consortium; EIRIF; BRIF; HEU; and Cabildo de Gran Canaria–.
Similarly, there will be 120 security personnel (78 from the Civil Guard, 21 from the Canary Islands Police, 5 from the Local Police and 15 from the National Police) and 40 people in logistics work.
In addition, there will be 19 air resources that will fight the flames –7 helicopters (4 from the Ministry of Ecological Transition-Miteco and 3 from the Canary Islands Government); 2 EIRIF; 2 Council of Tenerife; 1 Council of Gran Canaria; 3 FOCAS (amphibious aircraft of the Miteco); 1 ATC (cargo aircraft on the ground-airtractor); and 1 Kamov; plus two for coordination (CUCO of the Civil Guard and ACO of Miteco)–.
