The fire in Tenerife gave a lull yesterday thanks to the change in weather conditions that contributed to shortening the course of the fire that spreads, after five days, over 12,800 hectares and a perimeter of 90 kilometers. The cessation of the wind and the increase in relative humidity also allowed the fire to stabilize on the southern flank, from Arafo towards La Esperanza, which allowed the rehousing of more than a hundred residents who were evacuated in the municipality of Candelaria and in the town of Arafo. In addition, several areas were consolidated in which work was being done yesterday and which make it possible to anticipate that the potential of the fire, estimated at 21,000 hectares, will be reduced.
Despite the good progress of the extinguishing tasks, in which 22 aerial vehicles are participating, which carry out about a thousand discharges with more than a million liters of water per day, the coordinators warned yesterday that "there is still a lot of work ahead” to control a fire that spreads over 11 municipalities. The Civil Guard yesterday confirmed what this newspaper reported on Sunday: that the fire was provoked.
The president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, described yesterday as a "miracle" the change in the weather on Saturday night, which allowed the bad forecasts that there were about the progress of the fire not to be fulfilled. "It is the first time that we give positive news from a meteorological point of view", indicated yesterday the technical head of Risc Forestal, Pedro Martínez, who emphasized that the entry of a mass with a high load of moisture during the night resulted in an increase in humidity from 15% to 50%, which lowered the intensity of the fire on the different fronts of the fire. In addition, the wind stopped and the spread of the fire was reduced.
At the appearance offered by the Canary Islands Government last night, Martínez was optimistic about the evolution of the fire and predicts that there will no longer be any great progress. "There are better conditions and less fuel to burn but there is a part where the fire can open in the upper part of Güímar. The forecasts are optimistic, but we have to wait", he pointed out.
In the same sense, Federico Grillo, the head of Emergencies of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, expressed himself, who pointed out that just like a patient who is in the uvi, the fire "is under surveillance" and you have to wait 24 hours to see' n evolution. There are mainly two fronts that worry the most. One is that of the valley of La Orotava that has entered Los Realejos and the other is the flank of Cho Marcial, in Arafo and in the direction of Güímar, to the west. Both are very active and the fire continues to walk.
Grillo was convinced that on the front of La Orotava "the border" will be marked by the humidity of the surface when approaching the coast due to the marine environment. In addition, efforts were concentrated yesterday on the Tacoronte front, which opened on Saturday night, as well as the one in Santa Úrsula, where the fire is "low intensity" but intervention is difficult because the terrain is steep . Just yesterday there were evacuations of some homes.
The fire forced another day to adopt measures such as the use of masks outside 19 municipalities of the island due to the smoke, both on the northern and southern sides of the fire.
