Disastrous Canary Islands fire smoldering
Source: Agencies |
August 20, 2012, Monday
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A fire that was started in the Canary Islands by arsonists two weeks ago hasn't been completely extinguished and is smoldering dangerously in forest undergrowth during a heat wave, Spanish officials said yesterday.
The blaze has already charred about 12 percent of La Gomera island's total area, and burning embers threaten to increase that amount.
Firefighters were finding it difficult to reach the three-kilometer stretch of smoky high ground because of the danger of rock falls, fire chief Javier Seijas said.
Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 and a popular tourist attraction because of very rare, and in some cases unique, flora and fauna, lies at the heart of the island.
Experts say the park's woodland has endured since the Tertiary age, 11 million years ago, and is a precious survivor of the type of humid subtropical forest that once covered almost all of Europe before humans.
"The fire that has devastated the forests of the island of La Gomera can be considered, in view of the damage, a true environmental disaster," regional employment and trade spokeswoman Margarita Ramos said.
Ramos said the government recognized the fire had "seriously threatened the economic livelihood of those families whose heritage and way of life have suffered severe damage."
About 4,200 hectares of the island had burned, including 800 hectares of park.
Interior Ministry official Maria del Carmen Hernandez Bento on Thursday confirmed people had been detained, but did not say how many.
The blaze has already charred about 12 percent of La Gomera island's total area, and burning embers threaten to increase that amount.
Firefighters were finding it difficult to reach the three-kilometer stretch of smoky high ground because of the danger of rock falls, fire chief Javier Seijas said.
Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 and a popular tourist attraction because of very rare, and in some cases unique, flora and fauna, lies at the heart of the island.
Experts say the park's woodland has endured since the Tertiary age, 11 million years ago, and is a precious survivor of the type of humid subtropical forest that once covered almost all of Europe before humans.
"The fire that has devastated the forests of the island of La Gomera can be considered, in view of the damage, a true environmental disaster," regional employment and trade spokeswoman Margarita Ramos said.
Ramos said the government recognized the fire had "seriously threatened the economic livelihood of those families whose heritage and way of life have suffered severe damage."
About 4,200 hectares of the island had burned, including 800 hectares of park.
Interior Ministry official Maria del Carmen Hernandez Bento on Thursday confirmed people had been detained, but did not say how many.
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