Huge La Palma wildfire in Canary Islands forces more than 500 residents to leave their homes

The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has reported that the forest fire that broke out in the early hours of this morning (Saturday, 15 July) has so far affected around 140 hectares of land and some 500 residents have been evacuated from their homes.

Speaking to the media, he said that the number of people who have had to move out of their homes as a precautionary measure could reach a thousand in the next few hours.

"If the weather is with us, in principle we may control it by the end of today, but the wind is very changeable, strong gusts are expected and we have to be very careful," he said.

The start of the fire was located near the LP-1 road, at kilometre point 76. The 112 emergency number of the government of the Canary Islands received the first alert calls at 1.05am and it was upgraded to a Level 2 fire at 6.12am.

From that moment on, the regional government took over the management of the emergency plan for civil protection and emergency response to forest fires in the Canary Islands.

The territorial scope of the emergency covers the municipality of Puntagorda, made up of houses, crops, scrubland and pine trees, with possible damage to buildings and vehicles, the regional government reported.

As a precautionary measure, a shelter has been evacuated and the residents of the old people's home in the municipality have been confined while awaiting the evolution of the fire.

The Red Cross initially set up a facility in Tijarafe to provide initial assistance to the evacuated. Later, for greater safety, it was decided to move to another in Los Llanos de Aridane, with capacity for about 100 residents.

So far, resources on the ground include those from the Cabildo de La Palma, BRIF firefighters from the Ministry, EIRIF from the Government of the Canary Islands, firefighters from La Palma, the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC), the Canary Islands Police Force, Guardia Civil, Local Police and the Red Cross, among other emergency resources, have been involved.

At the moment, there are seven airborne resources involved in the firefighting work of which three are GES helicopters and four are Spanish Government resources, including two seaplanes that were requested from the central government.

The municipalities of Puntagorda, El Paso, Tijarafe, Los Llanos de Aridane, Breña Baja, Santa Cruz de La Palma, Tazacorte and Garafía are also collaborating in the deployment.

Early in the morning, members of the Tenerife fire brigade, the Red Cross and the Canary Islands Police Force travelled to the island by boat.

Also, 150 members of Spain's Military Emergency Unit will join the firefighting tasks, and are expected to join the ground resources this afternoon.