The Tenerife forest fire now covers 12,800 hectares (128 kilometres squared or 24,000 football pitches) with a perimeter of more than 90 kilometres, according to the latest estimates early this morning.
For the first time last night weather conditions were more favourable for firefighters as the wind dropped to between 10 and 15km/h last night and there was some rain on the island, but there are no reports yet as to how or if that helped their efforts.
The fire is well and truly in Teide National Park now, and teams are trying to contain it as quickly as they can. Fortunately, there is only sparse vegetation in this area, but it can spread more quickly (depending on the wind) because it is flat.
A time-lapse video released by the Izaña observatory shows the fire advancing in the daytime and burning during the night:
The aerial and terrestrial resources are finally gaining ground against the flames in the North and today they plan to concentrate their activity in the highlands of Güímar, where the technicians believe that the Anocheza firebreak will stop the advance of the fire towards the South.
The president of the Tenerife Cabildo said that as of 9:30pm last night (Sunday), there is no record of the loss of any home as firefighters are doing their utmost to protect people's properties. There are videos circulating on social media of people claiming their building is on fire, but these haven’t been confirmed as being genuine yet.
The Guardia Civil have announced that the fire was started “intentionally”. They are currently following three lines of investigation as to who, how, when, and where it was started on Tuesday night.
More updates later as soon as we have the information.
