He fire declared this Thursday at the Parque La Reina composting plant, in Arona, in the south of Tenerife, affects 3.5 hectares of the site. This was stated this Friday by the Tenerife Firefighters Consortium official Florencio López, who added that the origin of the fire is still unknown and that its smoke does not have toxic particles as it comes from plant remains and, therefore, it is not affected. to the population.
In fact, he explained that there are some 100,000 tons of compost, wood and plant material that are burning and that the forecast is that the extinguishing work will last for several days. In addition, she has detailed the characteristics of the operation together with the president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, and the mayor of Arona, Fátima Lemes.
López has commented that the work of the device focuses on acting on the largest piles of material with machinery and water lines in order to quell the flames while the smaller piles will be consumed directly by the fire.
He has also said that extinguishing is being reinforced in front of the highway and that the smoke emitted by the fire, which is very striking, “is not toxic” as it comes from plant material and dissipates quickly so it does not negatively affect to the population.
A total of 20 firefighters worked this morning and two aerial means have joined the extinguishing efforts, one from the Emergency and Rescue Group (GES) of the Government of the Canary Islands and another from the island’s forestry brigades.
Since early Thursday afternoon, several Tenerife Firefighters teams from the parks of San Miguel, Güímar and Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the volunteer firefighters from Adeje and Güímar were deployed with a total of 12 teams and 19 people.
Likewise, personnel from the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC), and police resources from the Civil Guard and the Local Police, as well as Civil Protection personnel, were deployed.
In addition, a helicopter from the Emergency and Rescue Group (GES) of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Brifor helicopter of the Cabildo carried out several downloads in the area, which continued this Friday.
The president of the Island Council, Rosa Dávila, as well as the Minister of Natural Environment, Sustainability and Security and Emergencies, Blanca Pérez, and the Minister of Primary Sector and Animal Welfare, Valentín González, and other members of the Corporation, have visited the place both this Friday and Thursday afternoon.
All media @CabildoTenerife available to the @AytoArona to work on extinguishing the fire at the composting plant. pic.twitter.com/oAXWwW5tqS
— Rosa Davila (@rdavmam) January 12, 2024
Given the proximity of the fire, about 180 animals that were in an area adjacent to the composting plant were evacuated.
Specifically, these are the Esperanza del Sur and Live Arico shelters. Most of the animals have been rehomed in other animal shelters and by volunteers. In addition, the Cabildo created about 30 places at the Tierra Blanca Animal Protection Center (Fasnia) in case it is necessary to house the animals.
The Town Council asks the population to follow the instructions of the authorities and, as far as possible, avoid traveling through the area.
Smoke in homes
In this sense, the Arona City Council has issued a series of recommendations to the population of the urban centers of Parque La Reina, Buzanada, Guaza, Cabo Blanco and Valle de San Lorenzo, requesting that they take extreme precautions and take preventive measures such as closing the doors, windows and all the ventilation of the house (chimneys, heating, air conditioners) to prevent smoke from entering the home.
Likewise, it is requested to avoid, as far as possible, staying in outdoor areas and preventing children and adults from being exposed to the outdoors. In addition, it is recommended to use masks if you go outside.
In the event that the cloud is very dense, it is recommended not to drive vehicles to avoid accidents due to lack of visibility.
In total seven people have been treated, and two of them, a man and a fire officer with an eye injury, were taken to the hospital.
