Forest fire in La Gomera's national park

A fire has broken out in the beautiful Jardin de Las Creces area of La Gomera's ancient forest in the Garajonay national park. The alarm was raised around 9:30 pm last night and weather conditions were not helping the many fire brigade units that rushed to the area with winds gusting in excess of 60 km/h and very low relative humidity of less than 20% with temperatures of around 27ºC.

There is also a very large wildfire raging on the neighbouring island of La Palma where all available Canary Islands fire fighting resources have been sent over the past 48 hours plus three additional fire fighting aircraft from the Spanish mainland. Hundreds of people had to flee their homes there.

Last night La Gomera's emergency services evacuated elderly people and those with limited mobility from the village of Las Hayas which is closest to the fire and belongs to the municipality of Valle Gran Rey. All available resources in La Gomera were mobilised and the road between Arure an Las Hayas should be avoided to facilitate the transit of the emergency services there.

Initially 1.5 hectares of forest were reported to be affected in La Gomera last night but the terrain in the area is very abrupt and on a steep slope with difficult access for the fire crews. However, earlier this morning the fire has been declared ''stabilised, but not yet under control'', so let's hope that the rapid response by the fire services will help to avoid a similiar situation to that of the inferno of 2012, which was also preceded by a large blaze on La Palma island. 

Video of La Gomera's fire taken last night:

Posted by Manuel Manuel Padilla Padilla on Saturday, 22 August 2020 (click to view)

Since I got the news around midnight last night I've got this faint smell of burning heather-trees in my nose. I know it must be just the memory of 2012 when this was a dangerous reality for weeks, as I'm sitting in rainy Ireland now. The memory of having lived through the constant state of high alert until the final disaster during La Gomera's 2012 blaze is playing this trick on me.

I'll will update this post later, hopefully with good news.

UPDATE 1: It has just been reported that the firefighters on the ground will get support from the air, but no details were given.

UPDATE 2: One helicopter has been sent to fight La Gomera's fire.

UPDATE 3: La Gomera's island government has issued this additional statement in English: ''It is reported that as many forest tracks as the trails of the surrounding areas of Las Creces are closed. ▪ Tourist accommodations are called upon to communicate this information to their customers.'' (sic)

UPDATE 4: Work continues to control the fire. Meanwhile pictures of part of the affected area have been published by the Cabildo de La Gomera (island government) on their Twitter page:

...and here's another image of the area published by Canarian Weekly this morning:

UPDATE 5 (2:15pm): The situation is more ''stabilised'' now and the fire services are optimistic that the fire will be brought under control today. The affected area is more accessible now since a new access track has been cut into the forest and the helicopter is dumping water over the less accessible spots that are still burning. The evacuated villagers have been told that they can return home later this afternoon. However, the weather remains a worry with the nearest weather station at the graveyard of Arure reporting wind gusts in excess of 75km/h, very low humidity and temperatures over 30ºC.

UPDATE 6 : Thanks to the rapid intervention of the emergency services the fire in La Gomera has been declared ''under control'' and all that remains to be done is to extinguish the remaining hotspots and clearing smouldering timbers. 

In the neighbouring island of La Palma the huge blaze which burned 1200 hectares has been stabilised, but 400 firefighters and several helicopters and planes are still working to make sure none of the many hotspots and glowing embers will reignite the fire.

Two forest fires on La Palma island

Image source: La Palma fire brigades via gomeranoticias.com

Two forest fires which were just a short distance apart were fought in the El Paso region on the island of La Palma yesterday. There was concern that they may have been started deliberately because they were so close to each other. The first was put out relatively swiftly, though not before burning nearly 2000 square metres of trees and shrubs. The second broke out a few hours later and local officials admitted late last night that it looked worse even though firefighters managed to establish a perimeter around it before midnight and were optmistic that it would eventually burn itself out. With temperatures  falling in the area this morning, the emergency services have brought the blazes under control fully, although the smoke rising from the spot has given locals anxious moments,  and  a helicopter was sent to provide support from the air in the battle to quench the flames. One road leading to the area had been completely closed yesterday.

Forest fire suspect to stand trial

IslandConnections.eu reports:

A forest warden accused of starting Gran Canaria's biggest ever forest fire is to go on trial seven years after the blaze.

Gran Canaria - 08.05.2014 - Juan Antonio Navarro is to be tried by jury at the Criminal Court on the recommendation of the local court of instruction in Arucas. Navarro is accused of deliberately cusing the blaze in the summer of 2007 which destroyed 20000 hectares of woodland and saw the authorities evacuate nearly 5000 people from their homes on the island. The court has banned him from leaving Spain until the trial and ordered him to deposit a massive bond of 70 million euros within 24 hours or have his assets seized. Given that he worked as a warden at the time, the island's Cabildo is jointly liable for any damages award made if he is convicted. News of the trial has been welcomed as it sends a clear message on the eve of the summer season which invariably sees forest blazes affect the Canaries, many of them caused deliberately. 

Major wildfire on Gran Canaria - updated

Photo: canarias7.es

A major wildfire with more than one front has been raging in the Cruz de Tejeda region on Gran Canaria since 11am this morning and the flames are still not under control as I write, forcing the evacuation of villagers in the area and road closures. At least three houses are said to have been burnt down. Let's just hope and pray that the showers expected for later today and tonight will materialise. The rising winds are not helping though.

Click for video:El viento propaga y dificulta la extinción del incendio de Gran Canaria - RTVC.es Noticias
Update at midnight:
The fires are still out of control, but weather conditions are 'favourable to have the blaze stabilised by Saturday or Sunday' according to officials. The canarias7.es photo below was taken just before dark. See their photo gallery. 
NB: Resorts and tourist facilities are NOT affected. The fires are in a remote rural area in the mountains and will hardly be noticed by most tourists.There is NO threat at all to touristic areas.

UPDATE Friday Oct. 25th 2013, 10am:
The situation appears to have improved a lot and according to some unconfirmed reports the fires have been brought under control.
+++At lunchtime it was officially confirmed that the situation has been 'stabilised'.

UPDATE Saturday, Oct.26th 2013: 
The fire has finally been extinguished.

New page added: Fire on La Gomera 2012

Due to the continuing strong interest in the fires that affected La Gomera this summer and the many anxious questions from many parts of the world, I have added a separate page with the title: 'Fire on La Gomera 2012' to this blog. If you click that on the tabs bar above (below the title) you will find the page that contains a summary of the events, a list of previous posts relevant to the subject and additional images. The page will be further expanded and updated when needed.
The new page will hopefully help to promote La Gomera and correct some of the impressions that various exaggerated media reports left after the fire.
La Gomera was injured, but is recovering fast !