A heat stroke and two injuries force the evacuation of ground personnel
The ground operation that fights against the Forest fire which began on July 21 in Tenerife adds its first three casualties on a day of Tuesday, July 26, in which there have been three incidents in the fire stabilization zone, due to the harsh weather conditions and to the terrain difficulties.
These losses have been caused by heat stroke and two injuries to the lower limbs, which are not serious. They affect a member of the Forest Fire Intervention and Reinforcement Teams (EIRIF) of the Canarian Government, from the La Gomera group; a member of the Forest Fire Reinforcement Brigades (BRIF) of Government of Spain, based in Puntagorda, and an operator from the Teide National Park. At least one of the cases had to be evacuated by helicopter.
The worker affected by heat stroke was evacuated by air, but is already at home. The Minister of Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, Julius Perezhas remarked tonight that these casualties highlight the harsh conditions which is being worked on and the involvement of some professionals who “they’re giving it their all”. The more than 200 members of the operation yesterday resisted the most suffocating day of the fire in the Corona Forestal in the north of Tenerife. The work was “very hard,” explained Julio Pérez, not only because of the extreme heat, but also because the humidity did not exceed 40%.
However, the work of the brigades and the aerial means -10 helicopters and two seaplanes-, with the help of a wind that did not exceed 30 kilometers per hour, allowed to “strengthen the stabilization” of the fire, as detailed by Julio Pérez in the last balance of this Tuesday. Only a few small outbreaks were recorded on the fronts of the slopes of Tigaiga and La Fortaleza of the Teide National Park, although without force to reactivate the flames. In such a way that “there is no longer a fire” and “the fire is heading south”, stressed the spokesman for the regional Executive at the press conference.
For the second consecutive day, the number of hectares burned has remained anchored at 2,700. The Security Minister did provide a new piece of information, referring to the effect on the Teide National Park. There, 226 hectares have burned since last Thursday, of which the vast majority (213) is Canarian pine forest and the rest (13 hectares) are brooms. Julio Pérez defined the damage in the protected space as “relatively minor”, although he specified that they are worse in the case of brooms because, unlike pines, they are an endemic plant that does not survive fire and is also seriously threatened by climate change.
Meanwhile, the command post postponed to this Wednesday the decision on whether to continue or terminate the eviction of the area closest to the Chanajiga front, the 30 homes where between 60 and 70 people reside, in Los Realejos, the only ones that continue evacuated. The mayor of Los Realejos, Adolfo González, requests that the return be “quiet” and that people who have sheltered animals “first pass through the Las Llanadas sports center” to carry out a control and authorize their withdrawal from the farms and shelters where they are temporarily located.
The commanders of the operation hope to declare control of the fire in the next few hours, a fire that has forced the serving of 3,746 food rations to the more than 250 professionals who have worked on its extinction.