Monday, July 30, 2007
News from Tenerife: Disappearances, Mystery Appearances, Extreme Heat & Intentional Fires
Plenty of news from the islands today and, none of it good, I'm afraid.
Have you seen this girl?
Tenerife is currently living its largest ever search for the disappearance of a young girl. Fernanda Fabiola Urzúa - who is 15 years old, originally from Chile and who moved to Tenerife with her family six years ago - went missing on Thursday, just meters from her home in the Ten Bel area (Arona).
On Saturday, 100 soldiers were called in to join the search for Fernanda Fabiola, who was wearing a black shirt and white pirate trousers when she disappeared.
A shoe and a belt found at the scene are said to belong to the youngster.
Since many English speaking foreigners live in or visit the areas of Las Galletas, Ten Bel and Costa del Silencio - and since the smallest clues can often produce the biggest breakthroughs - I wanted to pass this on, so that if you are due to visit the area in the near future, you can be on the alert.
On a personal note, having lived near that area myself and, probably having walked my dog on the very track where, from the reports, I believe she disappeared, I have to say that it sends chills down my spine.
Army called in to help in the search for missing teenager on Tenerife
Tenerife vive la mayor operación de búsqueda de su historia por el caso de la menor
Mencey Taoro II Found in Panamanian Waters
Meanwhile a lifeboat belonging to the Mencey Taoro II, which disappeared on July 23rd, 2006, when it left Puerto de la Cruz on the north of the island, to cross from Tenerife to the neighbouring island of La Gomera, has been found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a few miles east of Miami, by a Panamanian fishing boat, 2,000 nautical miles from the archipelago.
The mystery continues, because, while 5 lifejackets and personal documents of the crew have been found in the waters around the inverted boat, there was no sign of Antonio de la Cova, Luis González and Pedro Santos - all three experienced sailors - who left on that trip.
Aparece a 2.000 millas del Archipiélago el "Taoro II" desaparecido hace un año en aguas canarias
Forest Fires in the Canary Islands
In Gran Canaria currently, they are dealing with a forest fire of "historic proportions" - the biggest ecological disaster on the island - that has affected 3,500 hectares of land, 2,500 that have suffered direct consequences.
The uncontrollable fire has worsened considerably, after today entering the village of Mogán, where 2,000 people have been evacuated and where at least 30 houses had already been destroyed. Now more houses are burning, including that belonging to the mayor - not to mention the ecological disaster of losing prime forest, habitats for endangered birds and the hundreds of wild and domestic animals that are being prematurely cremated.
The fire had 8 active centers this morning (later reports counted 9) and winds of up to 75 kilometers per hour, temperatures of 40 C and humidity of only 8% are making the situation "very complicated."
It's so bad, the fire can be seen on this NASA satellite image.
Forest Ranger Started Fire To Save Job
And the pyromaniac whom, it appears, allegedly, deliberately started the fire was a fire watchman, whose job contract was about to expire, so it seems he thought he would create himself enough work to get it renewed.
The 37 year old, named as Juan Antonio Navarro Armas - Canarias Bruta show a photo of this "Face of Shame" - was detained by the Civil Guard and later confessed to setting the fire with matches. After a first court appearance today, he has been imprisoned without bail.
Forest Ranger Started Fire To Save Job
Meanwhile, another fire has been raging on the island of La Gomera that has devastated more than 100 hectares in the district of Vallehermoso. Most of the inhabitants of the village of Chipude, who were evacuated on Friday, have now been able to return to their homes.
Another Forest Fire in Tenerife
And today, in Icod el Alto, Los Realejos in the mountains close to La Guancha in the north of Tenerife, the alarm was raised at 10 a.m. over a forest fire with several centers. The local authorities are working to evacuate homes and campsites close to the area and, it seems from the reports in so far that this fire may also have been deliberately set.
Declarado un conato de incendio en las cumbres de Los Realejos, Tenerife
Barbecues Prohibited in Tenerife Mountains
And, in Tenerife the Island Corporation has prohibited lighting fires in the recreational areas of the forests around Teide (Corona Forestal), Anaga and Teno, owing to the extreme heat and the meteorological alert currently in vigor to prevent the risk of forest fires.
El Cabildo prohíbe hacer fuego en las áreas recreativas de la zona forestal de Tenerife por las altas temperaturas
Sirocco causing temperatures close to 40ºC
As you will see from the screenshot with the post I made on Saturday (actually, it was written late Friday night), the Canary Islands have been colored in orange on the Instituto Nacional de Meteorología (National Meteorological Institute) Avisos meteorológicos (Meteorological Warnings) map since at least then - and the forecasts have merited that level.
I'm glad I took that screenshot when I did now, because it is dated and it makes it slightly worrying to think that maybe the weather men might take weekends off, because, we read from Canarias24horas that the INM only declared the orange alert officially today, Monday.
The extreme heat, with temperatures expected to reach close to 40ºC - well, they already did over the weekend - today and tomorrow, are being caused by a strong sirocco - wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa, Wikipedia tells us. All I know is that opening a window is equivalent to turning on a hot air blower.
And, of course, it's bringing with it a great plume of dust.
The heatwave is expected to continue until at least Wednesday and, say Canarias24horas, the south of La Gomera, and the east and west of the island of Tenerife are the areas where the heat will mostly be felt.
If you're feeling the heat, you could follow these recommendations to "keep hydrated, stay in the shade, avoid going out during hours of sun and to use sun protection." Though, to be honest, we've done all that and find that not even sitting naked and wet in front of a fan in a darkened room is doing very much to prevent the one remaining brain cell from frying! :)
Canarias con temperaturas que rozan los 40ºC y fuerte siroco
