Forest fire on La Palma island, Spain: More than 2,000 people evacuated

More than 2,000 people living in the urban area of Puntagorda, Tijarafe, La Palma Island, Canary Islands, Spain had to evacuate after a serious forest fire occurred in the context of the country suffering record heat waves.

The head of the Canary Islands government, Fernando Clavijo, said the fire that broke out in the early hours of July 15 spread in a very short time in an area near the municipality of Puntagorda in the northwest of the Canary Islands, where houses and farms are interspersed among pine forests, surrounded by bushes and fields.

Mr. Fernando Clavijo said that the government has deployed the Civil Protection Emergency Plan due to forest fires and by the evening of the same day, 2,020 residents had been evacuated from the danger zone.

About 300 firefighters, supported by aircraft, were mobilized to fight the fire. However, the firefighting efforts were hampered by strong winds and hot, dry weather conditions, which made the fire spread quickly and become difficult to control.

Local authorities have completely blocked the road network and traffic to forest trails located in high-risk fire areas.

Forest fire on La Palma island, Spain: More than 2,000 people evacuated photo 1

A car was destroyed by a forest fire early Saturday morning (July 15), in the city of Puntagorda, La Palma island. (Photo: EFE)

The fire has now affected more than 4,500 hectares of forest, burned 12 houses and forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 residents in Puntagorda. According to the Canary Islands Government, the fire has reached the Taburiente crater in the Los Brecitos area. Authorities fear that the fire could enter the National Park.

Spain has had a particularly dry spring. In March and April, the country recorded record high temperatures. Last week, the country entered its second heatwave of the summer, with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. In particular, images taken by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Sentinel 3 satellites showed that ground temperatures in the Extremadura region in the west of the country on July 11 exceeded 60 degrees Celsius. Authorities in central and southern Spain have issued warnings of the risk of forest fires.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the Western European country suffered nearly 500 forest fires in 2022, burning more than 300,000 hectares.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/chay-rung-tai-dao-la-palma-tay-ban-nha-hon-2000-nguoi-phai-so-tan-post762559.html

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