The meteorological conditions known as the three 30s, together with the dryness of the soil and the vegetation, has led to the activation of the Maximum Alert for the Risk of Forest Fires in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, the public are requested to take extreme precautions to avoid starting a fire.
Yesterday afternoon there were localised outbreaks in both Tenerife and Gran Canaria, in La Matanza, La Orotava, Tacoronte, Teror and Agüimes. These are in addition to the Forest Fire that affects the municipalities of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane in La Palma, which has caused material damage, affecting several homes, and has led to the evacuation of more than a hundred residents.
The cocktail of adverse weather conditions has been the perfect spark for the declaration of several outbreaks of forest fires and makes them harder to extinguish, is known as the three 30s:
- Temperatures above 30ºC (the last few days 40ºC has been exceeded).
- Gusts of wind that exceed 30 km/h (yesterday there were occasional gusts of more than 70 km/h).
- Relative humidity less than 30%.
These conditions trigger the danger of fires starting, and greatly complicate putting them out.
Yesterday began very early for the firefighters in Tenerife with the first outbreak just before 8:00am in the area of Cruz del Dornajito, in Camino Chasna in La Orotava. The fire affected an area of about 200 square metres of scrub and despite the strong north wind, its rapid intervention stopped it from spreading.
Firefighters acted quickly to avoid a greater repercussion at the La Orotava outbreak.
Later, in the middle of the day, a fire broke out in the Barranco de Las Lajas area, in which almost 10 square metres of grass, herbs and manure burned in which Brifor personnel from the insular area of Medio Natural del Cabildo assisted Firefighters and the police.
The latest scare occurred in La Matanza, late in the afternoon, when five vehicles from the La Orotava Fire Department acted to control and put out a fire that affected stubble and dry vegetation on several abandoned farms bordering the Carretera General de La Matanza, next to the Hiperdino supermarket. At 10:30pm they declared it was under control, but continued to water it to prevent it from reactivating.
In Gran Canaria, high temperatures also left at least two fires. The largest was declared in a pasture area of Teror. The first alert was received at around 3:40pm in an area located next to the road on the ascent from Lo Blanco to Teror. Helicopters and firefighters from Arucas and Telde were immediately mobilized, as well as personnel from the Local Police and Civil Protection, who declared the fire stabilized at 4.30pm.
The other one was a small blaze in the Vargas protected area in the municipality of Agüimes, which the Gran Canaria firefighters extinguished at 9.30am yesterday morning, which they claim was started by waste.
PUBLIC EXTREME VIGILANCE:
The intense heat will begin to subside as of today, and the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies of the Government of the Canary Islands will reduce the risk levels that it had declared later today: Maximum Alert for Maximum Temperatures in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, as well as the Alert situation for this phenomenon in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
However, the situation continues to be very dangerous in our mountains. The Cabildos will continue with the work of surveillance, closure of tracks, trails and access to the mountain to avoid risky situations, as well as the prohibition of various leisure activities and work in forest and rural environments.
