At a press conference tonight (Friday), the head of the Emergency Services, Montserrat Román, has indicated that a change in the weather with a drop in temperatures, lighter winds and an increase in humidity are expected, and has explained that the right flank of the fire is under control.
The forest fire, which began on Thursday morning in the Los Campeches area, in the municipality of Los Realejos, continues to spread without affecting populated areas, but is now heading to the borders of Teide National Park.
The Minister of Security of the Canary Islands Government, Julio Pérez, who together with the president of the Tenerife, Cabildo Pedro Martín, explained the evolution of the fire, has expressed the "contradictory" perception that one part has prevented the fire from reaching population centres but not from spreading to the upper part of the island.
In principle, it is estimated that the area affected now could be between 800 and 1,000 hectares and, as summarized by the president of the Cabildo, the extinction work has managed to prevent the fire from moving towards the municipality of Icod de Los Vinos and towards the valley of La Orotava.
Right in that area, explained the fire chief Pedro Martínez, a column of smoke "made us blind" after a sudden change in the wind but the advance of the fire was stopped.
Martínez has pointed out that it has been a hard day of work but he is confident that the improvement in weather conditions will facilitate the extinction work in the next few hours.
In this regard, the head of the Emergency Services, Montserrat Román, has indicated that a drop in temperatures, light winds and an increase in humidity is expected, and said that the right flank of the fire is under control.
Román said that new aerial support will be added tomorrow afternoon with the arrival of a seaplane from Gran Canaria. He explained that a sudden change in the wind caused the fire to rise towards the upper part of the island and enter the limits of the National Park, at La Fortaleza.
