A fire still in progress, Sunday July 16 in the afternoon, destroyed nearly 5,000 hectares of vegetation in less than thirty-six hours on the island of La Palma, in the Canary archipelago, in Spain. The heat detected on site, more than 40 ° C on Friday then 33 ° C on Saturday, when the first flames were observed, slowed down the action of the firefighters mobilized.
The president of the regional executive, Ferdando Clavijo, had announced on the night of Saturday to Sunday that the order had been given to evacuate more than 4,000 people from two localities, Tijarafe and Puntagorda. The drop in temperature observed in the night from Saturday to Sunday facilitated the fight against the fire.
“The night passed normally, the weather situation helped us a lot, the temperatures dropped considerably”welcomed Sergio Rodriguez, the president of the cabildo of La Palma, the island’s governing body, in a video posted on social media. “As a result, the flames slowed down and the hundred people hard at work in the area managed to contain the perimeter”he added.
“We are confident that over the next few hours, days we can put an end to this fire”, declared on public television TVE the minister of industry, trade and tourism of the Spanish government, Héctor Gómez, who visited the site. He estimated at “nearly 5,000 hectares” the burned area.
In 2022, around 500 fires devoured more than 300,000 hectares in Spain, a record in Europe, according to the European Forest Fire Information System – 66,000 hectares have already burned since the start of 2023, which promises to be just as risky for this country hit hard by climate change. The spring there was the hottest on record and the second driest, according to the Spanish meteorological agency.