The Tenerife fire has continued to advance ‘rapidly’ overnight towards the municipality of La Guancha, and now affects more than 200 hectares having doubled in size with no aerial support during darkness. The ground crews have worked tirelessly throughout the night, but the helicopters that water the ground can’t operate, so they have been fighting a losing battle.
So far, over a hundred people have been evacuated from homes and campsites, which includes 60 teenagers who were on a summer camp close by, and more homes as the fire has spread.
According to Montserrat Román, head of the Civil Protection and Emergency Response Service of the Canary Islands Government, the fire is moving quickly to the west, causing complications on the right flank due to the fact that there are many ravines and abandoned farms that allow the flames to “feed” easily helping it to spread and get more intense.
There were 150 troops on the ground during the night whose main mission, in the face of a possible change in the wind, was to ensure that the fire was contained to the mountain, and to prevent it from coming further downhill towards towns and villages.
Román has also said that drones with thermographic cameras were deployed last night to help get a better picture of the perimeter of the fire, and then at dawn this morning aerial support started again with helicopters dumping water and a plane spraying retardant liquid on the fire.
He also admitted that they are expecting another difficult day today as weather conditions are not expected to improve until tonight (Friday), although there has been a drop in the wind this morning which will stop it from spreading as quickly.
The mayor of Los Realejos has said on Canarian Television this morning, that everything indicates that the fire "of human origin", but whether it was intentional or due to recklessness is yet to be confirmed.
