The Government of the Canary Islands, at the request of the Cabildo de Tenerife and given the unfavorable evolution of the reactivation of the forest fire in Santa Úrsula, La Orotava and El Sauzalhas declared level 2 of Infoca, assuming management of the emergency, and has proceeded to activate the Military Emergency Unit (UME) so that its troops join the extinction work.
The president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Davilahas reported at a press conference the forest fire that has affected the island since last August 15 and that was at level 1 of the Infoca since last Friday, has registered several reactivations in the municipalities of Tacoronte, El Sauzal, Santa Úrsula and La Orotavadue to the high temperatures and wind, which have for the moment forced the evacuation of about 110 residents of Las Calderetas, Shooting Range and Powder Lane, in Ravelo. The people have been relocated to the El Sauzal Pavilion. Likewise, about 500 dogs from the ADEPAC shelter and about 50 horses have been relocated to the Casa del Ganadero facilities (La Laguna).
Rosa Dávila has indicated that during today’s day 10 helicopters have been operating, of which two were incorporated during the afternoon, as well as about 90 ground personnel between forestry brigades of the Cabildo, BRIF La Palma, EIRIF of the Government of the Canary Islands and Firefighters. of the Tenerife Consortium. During the night the EMU was incorporated, as well as reinforcement from the Fire Consortium to prevent the fire from reaching the homes.
The president of the Cabildo has indicated that the request to raise the level is made “in light of the wind forecast, with gusts that could reach 50 km/h, and high temperatures. We want the UME, along with the rest of the troops, to work to prevent the reactivations from continuing to grow and affecting homes.”
For his part, the head of the Forest Management technical service of the Cabildo, Pedro Martínezexplained that “the fire has remained active with a subsoil fire, so we have continued working for weeks. The high temperatures, together with the wind conditions, have caused various reactivations in recent days, which have been stabilizing over time. as they appear. The wind forecasts for today make us be cautious because a storm may occur and in view of this situation we have proceeded to evacuate the people from those centers of Ravelo.”