Wildfire in Spain's La Palma island forces hundreds of people to evacuate
Four helicopters and four firefighting units on the ground were battling to bring the fire under control in the island, which forms part of a Spanish archipelago off the coast of western Africa.
The fire is on the western side of the island on wooded, hilly terrain dotted with homes. It is not an area that was directly impacted by the 2021 volcano eruption. / Photo: Reuters
Spanish authorities have preemptively evacuated some 500 people to avoid a wildfire that has broken out on the Canary island of La Palma.
The fire started in the early hours of Saturday morning in El Pinar de Puntagorda, a wooded area at the north of the island in the Canaries, as many European cities brace for extreme heat in the coming week.
The regional president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said that, in addition to forcing the removal of the residents, the blaze has destroyed at least 11 homes within the relatively small burned zone of 1.4 kilometres squared.
He warned that the number of evacuees could easily increase.
“With the resources that we are deploying, we hope we can control the fire today, but the winds are shifting,” Clavijo said. “More gusting winds are expected and, combined with the dryness of the terrain and the lack of rain, this situation is complicated.”
The Spanish army deployed 150 of its firefighters to help local crews battle the blaze and other firefighters are arriving from the neighbouring island of Tenerife, Clavijo said.
Below-average rainfall, heatwave
Puntagorda mayor, Vicente Rodriguez, told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE that the fire started inside the limits of his municipality.
He added that the area has seen below-average rainfall in recent years, just like large parts of the drought-stricken mainland, due to changing weather patterns impacted by the climate crisis.
The fire also coincides with a heatwave that is hitting southern Europe.
Spain saw record high temperatures in 2022 and this spring as it endures a prolonged drought.
Authorities and forestry experts are concerned that the conditions are ripe for a difficult wildfire campaign after seeing virulent fires as early as March.
La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of eight members of Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast. At their nearest point, the islands are 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Morocco.
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