The Governing Council of the Cabildo de Tenerife has approved this Wednesday the proposal to declare the island as an area seriously affected by a civil protection emergency, as a result of the forest fire that started on August 15.
The Civil Guard denies Clavijo and sees it premature to say that the fire in Tenerife was intentional
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Rosa Dávila has praised the work of all the media and teams that have worked “in a devastating fire that is fought with the best technical team that has led the planning strategy against this fire.” The president of the Cabildo has stressed that the crisis is still in force, but even so they have wanted to hold this council because, despite not having affected homes and people, “it has devoured a very important part of our mountains, affecting more than 10,000 hectares of the forest crown and 2,300 of the Teide National Park”.
The councilor from Tenerife has informed that together with this new agreement, the call for the board of trustees of the National Park will be added, as well as other natural means, and the constitution of a commission to monitor and evaluate the damage caused by this fire once it ends the current emergency phase.
These damage assessment and monitoring tasks will be carried out in coordination with the other areas of the Cabildo and the municipalities, which together will assess the economic impact of the losses. This procedure that began this Wednesday in the Governing Council is carried out in accordance with the 2015 State Civil Protection Law, which provides for financial aid for damages to individuals (tool rooms, livestock facilities or beekeeping farms), corporations premises, natural or legal persons who have collaborated in the management of the emergency, and other commercial or service activities with activity in the forest crown and in the national park, as well as damage to island infrastructures.
The Governing Council of the Cabildo will refer the process to the Ministry of Security and Emergencies so that, in coordination with the rest of the island areas, they can assess the damage caused in sectors such as commerce, animal welfare or mobility.
In addition, it has announced that after the emergency situation a meeting will be held with the FECAI to analyze proposals for firefighting. The president has announced that she will propose to the State to directly activate the Military Emergency Unit (UME) “from level 1 or 1 plus, without the need to reach level 2”, with the aim of expediting the reception of means, such as seaplanes.
He has made a special mention of the fight that, two days ago, the media and troops have made in defense of strategic infrastructures in the Teide National Park, such as the Observatory of Meteorology and that of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.
The president also thanked the work of the forestry brigades as well as the UME, “for their efforts in guarding and protecting an important national heritage, such as the Teide botanical garden.” As for the endemic species, she praised the resistance of the Canarian pine, which “will surely cover our mountains again and shine with its green.” Yes, she has lamented the late recovery of the broom, whose recovery process lasts 25 years, and whose loss is “incalculable and cannot be measured with money.”
“Tenerife has not given up. We have not lowered our arms at any time”, added the president, who stressed that in the last 40 years there has not been such a devastating fire. Despite this, she has valued the satisfaction and joy that the institution feels that “thousands of families were able to return to their homes yesterday afternoon.”
The president did not want to forget the work of the government team of the Cabildo de Tenerife, as well as its island directors, private entities, non-governmental associations and volunteers, “who have made possible the correct evacuation and maintenance of the emergency”.
The vice president of the Cabildo, Lope Afonso, has highlighted the “need for the council to rise to the occasion” and has urged the municipalities and the Government of the Canary Islands to collaborate with this process, once the damages are evaluated and the the current phase of emergency. The advisor to the presidency, José Miguel Ruano, has said that, despite the fact that with the current data some damage assessments can begin, it will be when the alert ends the exact period in which the analyzes begin.
The fire declared seven days ago occupies an area of 14,751 hectares, but its containment by the extinction teams has allowed 8,355 people from the municipalities of La Victoria and Los Realejos to return to their homes yesterday, as well as the majority of the residents of El Rosario, El Sauzal, La Matanza, Santa Úrsula and La Orotava while 3,109 people remain evacuated.
