He Forest fire that since Tuesday affects six municipalities of Tenerife has already consumed more than 2,600 hectares in a perimeter of 31 kilometerswith a potential that had not been seen in the archipelago and that has forced the decree of the confinement of the urban area of the population in El Rosario.
The fire, which is advancing uncontrollably, affects the municipalities of Arafo, Candelaria, Santa Úrsula, La Matanza, El Rosario and La Orotava
The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, stated this Thursday, after the meeting of the coordination plan to monitor the fire, that the work to combat the flames is effective, but are carrying out with difficulty due to the fact that the meteorological evolution has not been as expected, and has ensured that it is the most complex fire that has occurred in the last 40 years.
Rosa Dávila, president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, has indicated that it has been decided to confine the town of El Rosario, located in La Esperanza, due to the abundance of sparks produced by the fire and to clear the roads for the passage of the security forces in an operation to which another detachment of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) will join today.
Clavijo has calculated in some 7,600 people were evacuated and confined by this fire and has indicated that the sparks (pieces of burning material that are transported by the wind and convective phenomena) are causing small fires in different areas.