Tenerife, Canary Islands. Firefighters “couldn’t put out the fire”. Thousands of people were evacuated

In Tenerife, in the archipelago of the Canary Islands, there is a huge fire fighting. Flames erupted on Tuesday at Teide, a popular tourist volcano, but due to hot and windy weather, the fire started to spread quickly.

On Friday, the Spanish Armed Forces sent more than 200 soldiers to fight the wildfires. Apart from them, more than 200 firemen equipped with 50 fire engines and 17 firefighting planes are also participating in the fight with the organ.

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced on Friday that firefighting forces on the Canary island were being reinforced after the fire in central Tenerife spread quickly and was “out of control”. “Depending on the needs of the firefighting teams, we are prepared to send additional forces to Tenerife,” Robles said. He also said that the main duty of soldiers is to protect citizens. As of Friday afternoon, the fire, which spread across eight municipalities of Tenerife, had burned nearly 4,000 hectares of forest. About 8,000 people had to be evacuated.

– The fire is practically spreading across the island – said Jakub Krezela on TVN 24. Tait National Park is so dangerous that it is closed to tourists, he said. “From my window you can see the avalanche slowly coming down the slopes,” he said. “As of now, everyone is safe and no one is injured,” he added. According to Grzela, the weather was not conducive to fighting the element – the temperature was around 30 degrees, with strong winds.

The head of the autonomous government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said during a press conference on Thursday that the services fighting the element “couldn’t stop the fire and the situation is still not under control”.

“This is the most complex fire we’ve had in our archipelago in 40 years,” Clavijo told reporters.

Local services said it was necessary to introduce roadblocks on several roads leading near Teide volcano for safety reasons and because of the appearance of “curious tourists” in the fire zone, which could interfere with the work of firefighters.

The biggest problem in fighting the element, according to fire crews, is the strong winds of the wind that change the direction of the fire, as well as the high drying of debris in the forests of the Canary Island.

We also received photos from Tenerife at Kontakt 24. Photographs taken Thursday evening from Puerto de la Cruz, Mr. Kuba sent us. They show flames approaching the town of La Orotava.