More than 550 people and ten aerial means fought against the clock yesterday on the island of La Palma to try to contain the fire that has been active since early Saturday morning and that today could be complicated by a forecast of a change in weather with rising temperatures. Three fronts are still active, although the one that worries the most is the one that has entered the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, due to the difficult orography of the area, with totally steep slopes and which are difficult to access by land.
Although early yesterday morning the forecasts were positive given the good weather conditions -with temperatures of 22 degrees and a relative humidity of 80%-, which favored the work of controlling the fire, the thermal inversion caused the concentration of clouds and smoke in the upper area of ??La Caldera preventing air resources from intervening. At noon a helicopter tried to take action but had to withdraw due to low visibility. This meant that the fire in the area could only be stopped with terrestrial means in very complicated tasks.
The fire entered the upper part of La Caldera on Saturday and yesterday descended down the slope to the bottom. The height is more than 2,000 meters with a completely steep orography and difficult access. The risk is that the flames could cross the bottom and spread towards the municipalities of Los Llanos, as pointed out by the Ecological Transition adviser of the Government of the Canary Islands, Mariano Zapata. A small tributary of water in La Caldera is looked at with hope as a natural element that could contain the fire, although the risk is the large amount of plant debris that accumulates in the area and that could act as a “fuel” to fuel the fires. calls. “For now, the burning is progressing slowly. It is not a violent fire and we hope to be able to stop it as soon as possible”, indicated Zapata yesterday.
For now, the fire extends over 3,500 hectares – the affected area has been reduced – mainly Canarian pine and has also devastated some vineyards. The luck that is the Canary Island pine regenerates easily after fires as long as the crowns are not damaged. In a short time they could regrow. In the area there is also laurel and heather, but the most affected has been the Canarian pine, Zapata indicated: “It is our hallmark. A beauty of nature but we trust that the condition is as little as possible.
In addition to the La Caldera front, there are two other outbreaks that were contained yesterday, one of them in the area known as El Reventón and the other in the upper part of the municipality of Tijarafe, known as La Cruz del Llano. In this area, work was carried out yesterday on the creation of a defense line to prevent the spread of the flames. They also carried out widening burns to secure the perimeter. 80% of the troops concentrated yesterday in this area with good results.
As for the more than 4,000 people who were evacuated on Saturday, the vast majority returned to their homes yesterday. Around 14 people remain in the authorized resources and still cannot access their homes as they are in areas at risk. There are also animals, especially dogs, in the shelters. The fire has carried away some 20 homes, according to the latest data provided by the Cabildo de La Palma.
Defense Minister Margarita Robles, who attended an event in Fuerteventura yesterday, took advantage of her trip to the Canary Islands to visit La Palma and provide support. Robles was optimistic with the evolution of the fire in the next few hours.
