A forest fire has broken out this morning (Thursday) in the pine forests of Los Realejos in the north of Tenerife, where two helicopters and emergency services on the ground are battling to control the blaze, which has been upgraded to a level 2 emergency and the help of the military has been requested.
Adolfo González, mayor of Los Realejos, has praised the "rapid response" once the outbreak was located, emphasizing that the weather conditions will not be a major problem for the extinction of the fire. Questioned as to whether or not the origin of the fire was intentional, he did not want to comment: "In less than a week we have had two outbreaks in Los Realejos, I hope it is not intentional."
Brifor firefighting teams are working to extinguish the blaze in Los Realejos, assisted by GES helicopters that transport water buckets to dump on the flames, as reported by the Emergency Services Coordination Centre (CECOES).
📹 🚁 Helicóptero del #GES realizando descargas, junto al resto de medios aéreos, en tareas de extinción @CabildoTenerife en incendio forestal #IFLosRealejos #TENERIFE. pic.twitter.com/mDsXXPMakH
— 1-1-2 Canarias (@112canarias) July 21, 2022
The General Directorate of Security and Emergencies for the Canary Islands Government, has declared an alert situation due to the risk of forest fires in the Canary Islands, specifically in El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, and Gran Canaria.
The alert is due to the extreme heat expected this week, low humidity, and hot winds, but in addition, haze will especially affect the peaks of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where visibility will be less than 10 km.
