SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, December 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The forest fire that originated on the island of Tenerife last August and affected a perimeter of more than 90 kilometers and almost 15,000 hectares across twelve municipalities, has caused damage estimated at 146.4 million of euros, according to the report commissioned by the Government of the Canary Islands last August to evaluate the material and environmental losses caused by the flames.
The regional Executive commissioned the preparation of this urgent report on August 28, just when the evolution of the fire made it possible to update the risk situation to Emergency Level 1, as established by the Special Plan for Civil Protection and Emergency Response to Forest Fires. in the Autonomous Community (INFOCA).
The study commissioned by the Government of the Canary Islands has quantified the costs generated by the fire in losses of goods and services, property damage, negative externalities, in addition to the extraordinary costs for environmental regeneration.
The evaluation of the damage caused by the fire commissioned by the regional Executive contains a compilation of the property damage suffered in infrastructure, crops and livestock activities. It also includes an estimate of the extraordinary costs derived from extinguishing the fire, as well as the palliative and environmental regeneration tasks to be carried out.
Regarding infrastructure, the analysis has measured the losses caused in water channels, agricultural trails, firebreaks, electrical installations, ponds, vertical signage, deterioration of asphalt pavements due to high temperatures, communications, deterioration of the tread layer of agricultural roads. and forestry due to the transit of heavy machinery in extinction work, among others.
The report also dedicates a specific section to quantifying the damage caused by the fire on agricultural farms, both for self-consumption and business, encompassing damage to vineyard, fodder and fruit crops, losses of crops, animals and facilities, and water supply by the means of extinction.
In the case of livestock farms, not only the possible losses have been quantified, but also the costs of feeding the animals during the duration of the event and subsequently, the collection of corpses and their treatment.
EFFECT ON THE FOREST MASS
From the point of view of the environmental damage caused by the fire, the evaluation study commissioned by the Government has also evaluated the extraordinary cost of the restoration and regeneration of the forest mass and its ecosystem.
This section has included the costs of treating the land to prevent erosion when it rains, measures to fix the land free of foliage, as well as actions to clean and channel ravines and runoff areas in the event of foreseeable land displacements. when rains occur.
Finally, extraordinary costs derived from medium and long-term repopulation activities in those areas that require it for a more rapid and effective recovery of damaged ecosystems are also included.
