The 3,000 residents evicted in it municipality of Santa Úrsula and the 200 of La Orotava by reactivation of the fire last August They will have to spend one more night away from their homes.
This is how it has been communicated Mayor of the aforementioned municipality, Juan Acosta, to those affected in the facilities of the municipal fighting ground, as well as in the other two warehouses dedicated to housing the victims.
Furthermore, the Emergency advisor of the Canary Islands Government, Manuel Mirandaand the president of the Tenerife CouncilRosa Dávila, they asked this afternoon to the citizens a lot of peace and cautionas well as that they do not approach their homes in the zones between La Corujera and Pino Alto for safety.
Furthermore, the head of Extinction of the Forest Brigades (Brifor) of the Cabildo de TenerifePedro Martínezexplained that on Thursday night and early Friday morning there are expected to be descending winds towards the sea of about 40 kilometers per hour in the upper part of Santa Úrsula.
Miranda explained at a press conference that the forecast is for “harsh conditions” at night, so both air resources and ground teams will remain vigilant to prevent strong reactivations of the fire in the area where the fire took place yesterday. fire in Santa Úrsula and La Orotava.
In addition, he highlighted the work carried out by the members of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) since they were activated around midnight on Wednesday. In Miranda’s words, they intervened in an exemplary manner and with great speed. He clarified that they had been on the operations front since 1:00 a.m.
The counselor requested “a lot of calm” from the population, as well as for citizens to be prudent and “obedient”, to the extent that the fire is not yet controlled, so there may be many unpleasant surprises.
Rosa Dávila clarified that “a tense night” is expected, with “complicated weather conditions”, with wind gusts of up to 40 kilometers per hour, as well as high temperatures.
The president of the Tenerife Cabildo confirmed that there is a house affected by the fire in Santa Úrsula and that the neighbors affected by such damage, along with other people, have been relocated to a hotel.
Another of the data offered by Dávila regarding the affected by the reactivation of the fire last August in Tenerife is that the residents of La Orotava who spent the night from Wednesday to Thursday in the Quiquirá pavilion, between 22 and 30 people, have been referred to other more comfortable resources. Dávila recalled that high temperatures will continue, at least, for the next ten days, so reactivations may be common when there is wind.
Pedro Martínez admitted that, during the day this Thursday, numerous hot spots have been detected within the perimeter affected by the reactivation between La Corujera and Pino Alto, as well as in places such as Las Charquitas, La Atalaya or Tamaide, for example.
In fact, according to the head of Brifor Extinction, there have been more hot spots in the last two days than in the entire month of last September.
For Martínez, these hot spots found in the subsoil can emerge and the truly worrying situation occurs when they find fuel to burn, as well as are driven by strong winds. And that is precisely what is feared will happen on Thursday night and early Friday morning.
One of the enclaves that was very difficult to access due to lack of security was Las Charquitas, where the reactivation of Santa Úrsula began on Wednesday. The reason is that there were numerous fallen eucalyptus and pine trees with fire.
The head of the Civil Protection service of the Government of Canary IslandsMontserrat Román explained that there were also reactivations this Thursday on the Mamio slope, in La Orotava, as well as, again, in the Ravelo area, in the municipality of El Sauzal.
On the night of Thursday to Friday, according to Román, it is planned that the ground extinction device will be made up of a total of 94 professionals, of which 40 belong to the Forest Brigades (Brifor) of Tenerife, the same number from the Military Unit of Emergencies (UME) and 14 firefighters from the Tenerife Consortium, who will focus on preventing the spread of flames in interface areas; that is, in the areas where the forest mass meets homes in rural spaces.
And as of Friday morning, it is expected that the device will be integrated, in total, by about 120 professionals from various resources. The head of the Civil Protection Service of the Archipelago admitted that there will be one less helicopter in aerial extinction tasks, because it must undergo a technical review. That is to say, it is contemplated that there will be eight in water discharge tasks and one, that of the Civil Guardin coordination functions of the others.
For Friday’s day, it is expected that in the upper area of Santa Úrsula and La Orotava there will be temperatures ranging between 30 and 32 degreessaid Roman.
Suspension of events
The mayor of La Orotava, Francisco Linares, announced that the Pinolere Craft Fair, one of the most famous in the Canary Islands and which was scheduled to be held this weekend, has been suspended by order of the Technical Directorate of the tasks of extinguishing the current fire. According to Linares, the intention of the City Council and the organizers is for the aforementioned exhibition to take place on the weekend between October 13 and 15.
And the consistory of Santa Úrsula decided to suspend the patron saint festivities of the municipality, whose proclamation was scheduled for this Friday as the official start of the events. For now, there is no new celebration date.
Neighbors affected
There were neighbors who the first night They passed in their cars and vans near the fighting ground. This was the case of Miguel and María (fictitious names), residents of Pino Alto. They claim that they were evicted very late, at 3:00 p.m., when the fire was already very close to their home. The couple stayed in a vehicle with the dogs and the children slept in relatives’ houses. The residents of Vera del Barranco Street helped each other to remove the elderly and pets from their homes, according to Miguel.
Another resident of Pino Alto He slept in his van ready to go camping. For his part, this resident believes that the evacuation took place early, at six or seven in the afternoon. It is the second eviction in just a month and a half. He states that “one always has the uncertainty that something will happen to the house.”
Lucy, her partner and three children are part of another family from Pino Alto that uses the resources available near the fighting ground. They have three dogs, so the parents spent the night in the warehouse set up for pets and owners near the fighting arena. The youngest children arrived from school at 2:15 p.m. and at 2:30 p.m. they decided to leave their house, “because the fire was moving down La Banderola very quickly, with an impressive voracity,” says Lucy.
This woman points out that there were many media outlets on her street, but no one expressly told them that they had to leave there. But the quality of the service from the City Council and the Red Cross in the spaces used as shelters stands out.
Other neighbors criticized the lack of foresight and means of the Santa Úrsula City Council to deal with situations such as those experienced in the last two days in an effective way. They also wonder what will happen now to the family that lost their home, once their stay in a hotel in Puerto de la Cruz is over. The Minister of Social Action of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Águeda Fumero, reported that some 83 elderly people were evacuated due to the fire. Of them, 74 are users of the La Corujera residential center. These citizens were referred to various resources in adapted vehicles from the Institute of Social and Socio-Health Care (IASS) and Sinpromi.
