Yesterday, the sixth since the start of the spectacular fire in the Corona Forestal de Tenerifedawned under a dense cloud of smoke that covered almost all the municipalities in the north and many others in the south of the Island, but with an air of optimism due to an incipient control of the perimeter that, yesterday, barely increased and was consolidated in 88 kilometers.
After the course of a night “without too many shocks” as defined by the mayor of La Orotava, Francisco Linares, early in the morning the weather predicted a new day in which the firefighting resources could enjoy optimum conditions to deal with the voracious fire affecting the island of Tenerife. After six days in operation, it has already burned 14,878 hectares in the 12 affected municipalities.
Yesterday, the 22 aerial means -20 extinction and 2 reconnaissance- and the 610 ground troops from different extinction bodies focused their efforts on containing the perimeter in the upper area of Güímar, to avoid the passage of fire towards Fasnia and Arico, to cool the northern flank from Tacoronte to Los Realejos and to control the flames that on Sunday also began to affect the summit, and especially Izaña.
The one that this weekend has been the area that generated the most complications, the one on the north flank, during yesterday had a much more predictable behavior. In many areas, after noon, fewer columns of smoke could be seen than in recent days. The Emergency Coordinator of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Federico Grillo, however, warned that there is “some risk of reactivation” also in that area. In fact, it happened shortly after 4:00 p.m., when a large column of smoke re-emerged on the slope of Benijos, in La Orotava. However, according to Pedro Martínez, head of the Forestry Technical Service, he stated that it is “an easier area to work”.
Yesterday the concern of the media turned to the south of the island because the reactivations of Güímar had the potential to spread. During the day, the Güímar front, located in Malabrigo, became a “Dante” scene, according to the residents themselves. In it you could see several columns of smoke descending down the hillside during the day. However, throughout the afternoon it had a favorable evolution.
In the National Park of Teidewhere a major focus was cornering various scientific and technical facilities in Izaña, the greatest progress was made, since the focus that was affecting the area was closed during the afternoon.
During the night the activity by land has maintained 167 extinction forces in three key places: the north, Güímar and Izaña. In the north they will focus on the liquidation phase of the fire. As Grillo insisted, this area is complicated at night, since it is an area with “a lot of mulch or leaf litter” and with the winds that come down from the slope – the katabatics – it could suffer reactivations.
In the south, the heights of Güímar are worrying, because as Grillo mentioned “it has entrenched itself and refuses to die.” Tonight they will test the work done during the day. In Izaña they will do cooling work although the “threat is neutralized” to avoid restarts that could go down to Fasnia or Arico. In any case, Manuel Miranda, director of Policy Territorial, Territorial Cohesion and Water warned that “it will not be easy to control the fire.”
unbreathable air
During dawn, the accumulation of smoke throughout the valley caused the air quality to be “extremely unfavorable”, which led to the recommendation to the population to use FFP2 masks outdoors. The same happened in several municipalities in the south of Tenerife, including Candelaria, Arafo, Güímar, Fasnia and Arico. When the trade winds gained strength, the air in the north improved, but the smoke headed towards La Laguna, El Rosario and Santa Cruz, where the use of a mask was also recommended during the day. In total, during the day, 22 of the 31 municipalities of the Island were affected by unfavorable conditions.
more rehousing
A sign of the improvement in the situation is that the population of Arafo and part of El Rosario were able to return to their homes, after being evicted for four days. He Government of the Canary Islands decreed around 3 in the afternoon the end of the evacuation of all the evacuated areas in Arafo, that is, the Casas de Gorgo, Tablonito and Los Frailes, the Juan Leal Road, in the Los Eres area and the Pinalete area. In El Rosario, the residents of the Las Barreras neighborhood and El Preventorio street, from the TF-24 intersection to the Las Raíces recreational area, were able to return to their homes. Although many of the evicted continue in the homes of relatives or friends, public resources shelter 969 people and 300 animals in centers set up and coordinated by the Social Welfare Department of the Government of Canary Islands. The president of the Island Council announced that a meeting will be held today to plan a “de-escalation” as soon as possible and with the greatest guarantees.
Changes in the buses
For security reasons, Titsa has modified or suspended certain ground transportation lines by bus for the next few days. Specifically, it has suspended three bus lines in the Valley. The routes affected are the one that linked Puerto de la Cruz with the Teide National Park, through La Orotava (line 348), the one that linked La Orotava with Realejo Alto, through Palo Blanco (347) and the one that linked Las Dehesas (Puerto de la Cruz) to La Piedad (La Orotava) passing through La Florida (373). Also in the north, lines 345 and 346 linking Puerto de la Cruz with Aguamansa, passing through La Orotava, have been modified. In this case, the buses will only arrive at the Bebederos stop, they will turn around in Barroso Square and will not enter Pinolere. Line 380 has also been modified, which goes from La Corujera (La Orotava) to Tigaiga (Los Realejos), which will stop at Chimaque. And line 330 that runs from Los Realejos to Las Llanadas, passing through San Vicente. In this case, it will only reach Las Llanadas. In the metropolitan area, line 054 that runs from La Aguna to Altos del Sauzal will be affected. From now on it will only go as far as the Agua García Funeral Home. In the south, the public transport company has also modified line 342 that operates in Costa Adeje to the Teide National Park, passing through Vilaflor. In this case, it will only go as far as Vilaflor.
More than 340 police officers
During the fire, there have been more than 340 members of different bodies and security forces that act in the Canary Islands who are acting to guarantee safety during evacuations and facilitate the work of the members of the extinction work. For this emergency they are coordinating Civil Guard, National Police, Canarian Police and Local Police. The spokespersons in charge of security have highlighted the willingness of the population to collaborate, since it has allowed these tasks to be carried out without incidents.
clues
The General of the Civil Guard, Juan Hernández Mosquera, affirmed, regarding the possible person responsible for causing the fire, that the investigations are underway although “there is nothing conclusive” and what they are based on is “indications.” In this sense, he also recalled that research on fires forestry operations are often “long and expensive”.
