Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
Firefighters on Spanish island say blaze is out of control and spreading on several fronts
Stephen Burgen in Barcelona
Mon 19 Aug 2019 12.16 BST Last modified on Mon 19 Aug 2019 13.04 BST
About 8,000 people have been evacuated from their homes on Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands, where firefighters are battling a wildfire that has burned more than 3,400 hectares (8,400 acres) of land.
More than 700 firefighters supported by 11 helicopters and five aeroplanes are struggling to contain the fire, which began on Saturday near the town of Tejeda and is advancing on several fronts, propelled by a combination of high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity.
The head of the Canary Islands government, Ángel Víctor Torres, described the blaze as voracious and an environmental disaster, and said it had been “neither contained nor controlled”.
The head of the local emergency services, Federico Grillo, said the fire’s main front was “impossible to extinguish” and that firefighting efforts were concentrated on containing the right-hand flank, where there are a large number of homes. The left-hand side had been stabilised, he said.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/19/gran-canaria-wildfire-triggers-thousands-of-evacuations-canary-islands
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