Last night's bushfire now under control

The scene of the incident, with the blue lights of the emergency services visible (image: gomeranoticias.com)

 There was a fire in an area of bushy vegetation and palm trees in the La Dehesa area near Chipude in the municipal area of Vallehermoso, at the foot of historic La Fortaleza table mountain. The village of La Dehesa is also home to one of only seven petrol stations in La Gomera, which was an additional fire hazard.

The fire was first reported at around 11pm last night and the emergency services were quickly on the scene, working all night to contain the fire. This morning the blaze was brought under control with 16 hectares having been affected by the fire. The Canary Islands are currently on alert for a high risk of fires due to the recent high temperatures and strong winds.

La Gomera's disastrous fire of 2012 started not too far from last night's blaze.

Canary Islands prepare for this summer's fire threat

Forest fires season 2017

Janet Anscombe reports:

''The Canarian Government has announced its forest fire fighting and prevention measures for this summer. The announcement was made in a presentation yesterday by Canarian President Fernando Clavijo with the Government’s Política Territorial, Sostenibilidad y Seguridad minister, Nieves Lady Barreto. Specialist helicopter units (Equipos de Intervención y Refuerzo Forestales – EIRIF) will cover all the islands, being physically based in La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, the result of an investment of almost €3m over two years, explained the president.  The minister, for her part, emphasized that the creation of EIRIF represented fundamental progress in fire fighting and prevention in the Canaries, with the units’ capacity to intervene on any island when required being an important preventative measure which, although it couldn’t stop fires starting, allowed an improved response to extinction and early assistance to stop fires spreading. Each squad will comprise 24 personnel including a technician, a foreman, and 6 specialists, and so together with 3 coordination technicians and 3 physical trainers, there will be 78 additional operatives integrated into the islands’ existing intervention resources.The units will act as reinforcement for the existing Cabildo cover which each island has in its own right, and will be employed between June and October, the high season for forest fire risk, whenever a fire exceeds insular level and requires a coordinated regional response from the Canarian Government. This will be of particular importance should fires break out on more than one island simultaneously. There will also be a hidroavion from Madrid based in the islands, and the training exercises for that were taking place recently between Gran Canaria and Tenerife (Photo: Ejército del Aire)...''

Fire alert

With the arrival of summery weather conditions and the dry season in the Canary Islands the risk of fire has increased and precautionary measures have now been taken to prevent blazes. As in most summers on La Gomera, the public barbecue areas have now been closed and all open fire is illegal since yesterday. Cigarette ends must be carefully quenched and camping is prohibited except on designated sites and all waste materials like bottles, plastics and paper must be properly disposed of in bins. Even the use of chainsaws and welding equipment is not allowed in and near forested areas. 

All these measures came into force yesterday and apply for the whole summer season. Please be vigilant and report any sightings of fire or smoke immediately by phoning 112.

Fire 'controlled'. Pyromaniacs still at large. Appeal

The fire that started on Thursday afternoon (see HERE) is almost out and officially declared 'controlled',but a smaller brigade of firefighters will have to keep watch to deal with any remaining danger and continue hosing down the area with water to cool the ground and embers.
Meanwhile a new picture of another incendiary device found near this fire has emerged. The device which thankfully failed to ignite fully, was made up of a fuse of highly flammable material, plastics, dry leaves and newspaper. The newspaper page on top is partially readable and contains an article about the disastrous fire in August last year (2012) under the pre-header ''Environmental catastrophe on La Gomera'' and the headline starts with the words ''A Fire with...''
This was intended to be used to start another fire ! Very sick indeed !

Image (c) http://gomeraverde.es

The pyromaniacs haven't been apprehended yet but police now say that they're hot on their heels and forensic examination of the found devices will provide further clues and evidence.

The authorities are again asking everyone to be extremely cautious and aware of the fire danger. They are also asking for vigilance and want any suspicious activity or material encountered to be reported immediately by phoning 112 (ask for an English speaking operator).
A fire alert remains in place for all of the Canary Islands.

Another incendiary device found (c)gomeranoticias.com

UPDATE Monday, Aug.19th 2013:

The fire has been officially declared totally extinguished as of late this afternoon.

All previously closed walks and forest areas have been reopened, but open fires and barbecues are still prohibited. Please remain vigilant.