“It’s arson,” was the comment of the police regarding the forest fire on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife, according to the local press. The law enforcement officers are sure that the fire was intentional and the investigation has been started.
The fire led to the evacuation of 12,000 people, including tourists from popular hotels. Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo said police had launched a three-pronged investigation, although he did not say whether any arrests had been made.
At the same time, the fire was called “the strongest on the island in recent decades” – forests were burning in the northeast of the island, burning since Tuesday and it was not possible to bring the flames under control. The main resorts are located in the southwest, and the regional government ordered the evacuation of the state hotel in the Teide National Park, in the center of Tenerife, 30 km away. southwest of the fire zone.
“More than 12,000 people have been evacuated since the fire started on Tuesday. 11,600 hectares (29,000 acres) of pine forest and scrub were burned,” emergency services also reported. The houses, unlike the Greek Rhodes, were not affected by the fire. Meanwhile, Spain tops the list of EU countries hit by wildfires this year, with 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) burned, ahead of Italy and Greece, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. Meanwhile, the country is waiting for a new “heat wave”.
We will remind you that the loudest “resort” fire this year was recorded on the Greek island of Rhodes. There, 5 people died from the fire and more than 20,000 people, including foreign tourists, were evacuated from the threatened areas. It was the largest fire evacuation in the country’s history. According to a statement made by the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) of the European Union (EU), the forest fires that Greece has been battling since July 17 have been recorded as the biggest fires in 20 years. By the way, arson versions of the Greek fires are also being considered.