Thousands Flee Fires in Spain's Canary Islands

Smoke from a forest fire wafts over the valley near San Bartolome de Tirajana on the Spanish Canary island of Gran Canary. Spanish authorities evacuated more than 12,000 people as wildfires swept across the Canary Islands, ravaging some 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) of land, officials said Tuesday. Spanish authorities evacuated more than 12,000 people as wildfires swept across the Canary Islands, ravaging some 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) of land, officials said Tuesday. Emergency services workers ordered residents to leave their homes for government shelters or hotels further from the flames on the two affected islands -- Grand Canaria and Tenerife. "These are the biggest fires on the archipelago in the last 10 years," the president of the regional government, Paulino Rivero, told a press conference

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will postpone a planned trip to Barcelona to visit the Canary Islands, one of Spain's top tourist destinations, on Wednesday to assess the situation in person, his office told AFP. The archipelago off Africa's western coast is the latest region to be affected by wildfires after flames raced across Italy, Greece, Bulgaria and other parts of southeastern Europe last week in the midst of a heatwave that claimed hundreds of lives. The fires are the first major blazes this year in Spain, which until last week had enjoyed a cooler-than-usual summer. "The rugged landscape of these islands makes firefighting very complicated, except from the air. But while there is a lot of wind and very high temperatures, helicopters generally cannot operate," Rivero said. Temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on the Atlantic archipelago with winds of up to 65 kilometres (40 miles) an hour which helped fan the flames. But the weather office predicts the heat and wind will ease on Wednesday while air humidity levels, which have been extremely low, will rise, raising hopes that firefighters will be able to gain the upper hand against the flames.

Environment Minister Cristina Narbona declared a state of "maximum alert" and said extra aircraft and firefighting crews were being sent from mainland Spain to help battle the flames which broke out Friday. "The Canaries have the full support of the government," she said after visiting the fire damage on Tuesday. Spanish public television TVE broadcast aerial footage of huge plumes of grey smoke rising from wooded areas on the islands as well as images of smouldering buildings. Several houses burned down but the exact number is not yet known, Rivero said. Seven motorways on the islands were closed because of the fires, the regional government said. Two soldiers were slightly injured when their truck overturned on Gran Canaria as they traveled to help battle the flames, the defence ministry said.

The fires ravaged 20,000 hectares of land in Gran Canaria, much of it in the island's mountainous and wooded centre, while on Tenerife the flames blackened 15,000 hectares, the regional government said in a statement. They threatened the survival of some 30 species of flora and fauna on Gran Canaria, according to regional environmental group Foresta. A local official said the fires had ravaged a large section of the Palmitos Park zoological garden, home to some 150 bird species and thousands of palms. Police on Saturday arrested a 37-year-old forest ranger who admitted starting the fire on Gran Canaria because he wanted his work contract, set to expire in September, to be extended. Meanwhile, emergency services in southern Portugal said that a major forest fire which broke out late Monday -- the hottest day of the year, according to meteorologists -- had been brought under control overnight.
No new blazes broke out Tuesday, officials said, and lower temperatures enabled authorities across the region to reduce alert levels.
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