The authorities of the Government of the Canary Islands and today the technicians will assess whether it is possible for the residents of the upper area of Ravelo, in the municipality of El Sauzal, who were evicted on Monday due to a new reactivation of the fire that affected Tenerife last August they were able to return to their homes. This was announced by the autonomous Executive in a press release released last night.
It should be remembered that about 110 people residing in the area of Las Calderetas, Carril del Polvo and Campo de Tiro remain preventively outside their homes. These citizens have already been urgently evicted from their homes on three or four occasions in less than two months. The fact that in the next few hours their relocation will be studied is an indication that the fire in said enclave in the north of Tenerife has stabilized. However, the fear that one or more gusts of wind could reignite the flames is still present.
This aspect was also exposed yesterday afternoon by eThe mayor of El Sauzal, Mariano Pérez, who stated that the fire was stabilized and that for the night and early morning there were no forecasts for strong gusts of wind, at least as much as those of 60 kilometers per hour contemplated for yesterday morning and that, in the end, they did not reach have that strength.
Temperatures are expected to drop today, but humidity will not recover until next Sunday
The meteorological conditions of the last hours of Tuesday, with gusts of wind lower than those recorded on Monday, allowed the intervening resources to work and control the reproductions of the last few days, indicated from the General Directorate of Emergencies.
The operation worked intensely yesterday in contain the fire in the Las Calderetas areaa place that is difficult to access in an interface area, where land is mixed with houses, orchards and mountains.
The preventive evacuations of the homes of Las Calderetas, Campo de Tiro and Carril del Polvo are maintained for the moment, until a new assessment of the situation of the fire and its proximity to inhabited areas is made today, they indicated in the note.
Resources
Last night and early today, 60 ground troops worked on the extinction operation, including forestry brigades from the Cabildo (Brifor), firefighters from the Tenerife Consortium and personnel from the Military Emergency Unit (UME), security bodies and forces (Civil Guard and Local Police), Cecopin coordination staff, Emergency and Security Coordination Center (Cecoes) and the General Directorate of Emergencies, as well as the Spanish Red Cross.
Last night, those responsible for the extinction left a third fewer firefighting professionals than at the checkpoint established for the night shift the night before.
Sources from the terrestrial media unit that remained on duty indicated yesterday that “a calmer night” than the previous ones was expected.
The authorities decide today whether or not those evicted in El Sauzal return home
The mayor of El Sauzal commented that the terrestrial means of extinction that followed in the reactivation space were planned to carry out an action more of surveillance than actual fighting against the fire. “Let’s see if the fire doesn’t go away,” wished the Sauzalero councilor.
Tacoronte
For last night and early today, temperatures above usual and east and southeast winds, with gusts of 30 or 40 kilometers per hour, were expected in the area comprised by the municipalities of El Sauzal and Tacoronte.
Although temperatures could drop today, humidity is not expected to recover until Sunday, according to the regional administration.
The maximum alert situation declared by the General Directorate of Emergencies due to the risk of forest fire in the western islands and Gran Canaria remains for the moment, as well as the pre-alert situation due to haze and high temperatures throughout the Archipelago, so the population is urged to follow the self-protection recommendations against the heat and respect the restrictions regarding transit on trails, as well as the prohibition of lighting any type of fire outside or burning stubble without express authorization, among others.
Staff fatigue
Personnel of the Forestry Brigades (Brifor) of the Tenerife Council He is beginning to feel physical fatigue after almost two months of fighting the forest fire that began in mid-August in Arafo. And this beginning of exhaustion is perceived in the shifts and in the nights of activity, which are longer than usual, as a result of the latest reactivations in the north of the Island. After facing one of the worst fires for two weeks devastating in recent years in Tenerife, in September they worked to stop numerous small hot spots inside the perimeter and that did not exceed 200 or 300 square meters in places that were difficult to access, ravines or slopes. And for a week they have been fighting against major reactivations in Santa Úrsula, La Orotava, El Sauzal or Tacoronte, for example. Staff sources explain that there is no psychological fatigue, but there is physical fatigue after such a long episode. And to this circumstance we must add the difficult weather conditions, with such a long heat wave in October, which, according to technicians, is also an unprecedented reality. As the head of Brifor Extinction, Pedro Martínez, has already expressed on several occasions, the sources recall that it is “a complicated fire”, which spreads very easily due to the dryness in the “mulch.” of plant or organic remains in the soil, which serves as “fuel” for the flames. They comment that if there was some moisture in that material, the fires would spread more slowly, more at ground level and less virulently than now. Furthermore, they warn that “we have never faced an episode in which a fire that has already been stabilized experiences so many important reactivations.” But they clarify that what is relevant is that there are no situations that seriously endanger the population and the extinction teams. For this reason, they consider it necessary that “between the trade wind” and the rains they soak the ground for several days, so that, in this way, the fire that advances through the subsoil or inside tree trunks is put out. |
