Tenerife forest fire is finally declared to be ‘under control’

The president of the Tenerife Cabildo, Rosa Dávila, confirmed last night (Monday) that the forest fire, which has been affecting the island since August 15^th, has now moved to Phase 3 and is considered to be “under control”. This does not mean that it is fully extinguished yet and firefighters will continue to water it until the heat has subsided and reactivations are not considered to be a threat which will still take several weeks.

She made this announcement during an extraordinary session of the island's Plenary Assembly, where she appeared upon her own request to provide an update. During this session, an institutional agreement, consisting of 11 points, was also approved, which includes a request to the Spanish central Government to create a permanent base for “high-capacity aerial firefighting resources”, i.e. seaplanes, in the Canary Islands.

"Today, we can say that the fire has finally been brought under control, and therefore, all the protocols and agreements have been signed to lower the emergency level to zero," announced Dávila. She highlighted that this fire has been "the most severe in all of Spain this year and the worst in Tenerife in the last 40 years, affecting nearly 15,000 hectares which is 7% of the island's surface, with more than 13,000 people evacuated."

Furthermore, she outlined that it has caused "material damage and economic losses, which, in an initial assessment, amount to over 83 million euros, which has been communicated to the Spanish government for financial support." She also emphasized that fortunately, there were no casualties or loss of homes thanks to the work of extinguishing teams.

Dávila described the characteristics of the fire as "a monster with a life of its own," and provided an overview of the actions taken since August 15th. She expressed gratitude and recognition for the efforts of all professionals, volunteers, organizations, law enforcement agencies, and firefighting resources that have worked "relentlessly" against the fire, involving more than 900 people during the first nine days and 24 aerial resources, as well as all levels of government. She also highlighted "the exemplary behaviour of the people of Tenerife."

She also pointed out that there] are lessons to be learned from this wildfire, such as the importance of conducting all necessary preventive tasks throughout the year. She emphasized the need to increase the number of forest firefighting brigades, and she has already given instructions to that effect.