The ash mills that are produced in the Teide National Park because of the wind and as a result of the forest fire that has been affecting nine days Tenerife will prevent the return to scientific activity of the IAC telescopes (Institute of Astrophysics of Canary Islands) for at least a week.
This has been exposed to the media by the director of the IAC, Rafael Reboloduring a visit to the facilities in the company of the acting Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, and the president of the Cabildo, Rosa Dávila.
Rebolo has admitted that the ash “can damage” the telescopes but has assessed that the fire, which reached about 50 meters, It has not affected the instrumentation or the optics thanks to the fact that the fire services “entrenched themselves” and were able to defend the place. “It was a hill surrounded by fire,” he added.
The director of the IAC has highlighted the usefulness of the observatories for monitoring and detecting forest fires, with a radius of action of a few kilometers in their optics, but understands that would do Lack of coordination with fire services.
