Sunday, August 19, 2007
Tenerife Fire: Teide and the fire effects
See this photo of the majestic and beautiful Mount Teide, gloriously snow capped and with the mostly green foothills in the foreground. Now go and look at this image that was taken from more or less the same angle and see how brown and charred it is after the fire.
Real Tenerife Island Drives also have a photo of the charred and blackened landscape around Valle de Arriba in Santiago del Teide on the front page of their site currently, which shows just how close the recent Tenerife forest fires came to the village.
This image of the Fire effects at Santiago del Teide shows a wider view of the same area and, likewise, shows just how close it was to the villages as well as to fincas and vineyards. Another image shows burnt pines.
And, here is a burnt palm tree in Masca. I still haven't been over and half of me doesn't want to when I read the description that goes with this last, saying "Masca used to be one of the most beautiful landscapes in Tenerife, but right now some of its typical canary houses and most of the beautiful canary palm trees are burnt and it seems to have become all grey."
The Fire on Tenerife is out
This week the fire that was started on July 30th and affected 10 districts in Tenerife; Los Realejos, San Juan de la Rambla, La Guancha, Icod de Los Vinos, Garachico, El Tanque, Los Silos, Buenavista del Norte, Santiago del Teide and Guía de Isora, was finally declared to be extinguished.
It was declared to be "under control" on August 2nd, but forestry workers have still been working on cooling and extinguishing smoldering remains.
Inspection works are still ongoing, but the Ministry for the Environment have released their official figures for the areas affected, which in Tenerife, was a total of 18,800 hectares. This is greater than the 15,000 hectares originally estimated and converts to 46454.8 acres, or 188 square kilometers, 72.59 square miles or 17,398.8 football (soccer) pitches!
As far as I am aware, the only restrictions that might affect visitors are that the Barranco de Masca (Masca Gorge) is still closed, because of damage and that the bridge was burnt. Also, while all the roads are open, tracks in the forests and mountains remain closed to both vehicles and walkers.
Camping areas Barranco de La Arena and El Lagar remain closed, as do the recreational areas at; La Tahona, Barranco Fuente Pedro, El Lagar, Las Hayas, Arenas Negras, San José de Los Llanos and Los Pedregales.
Other recreational areas, listed here are open to the public.
Labels: Tenerife Fire
4 Comments:
Pamela Heywood wrote (on
August 20, 2007)
Yes, Joe, as far as I know the Barranco is still closed, because of the loss of the bridge that was burnt and will presumably have to be replaced. At least that is the information being given by the local TV from Los Silos daily, but I'll give the town hall a bell to confirm and get the latest news. If I get the chance, I hope to go over to Masca in person this week.
The sensationalists / fear mongers will exist for as long as such trash sells newspapers because readers lap it up wholesale.
At times, I feel that it's probably a pointless exercise, however, if enough readers learn enough to begin to see through their myths and exaggerations, well maybe they will start to demand more accurate coverage.
Itahisa wrote (on
September 20, 2007)
Hi!
I was searching for my photos on the Internet when I discovered this site... I've read your article about the fire and I've seen the links to my photos ;)
Secret Tenerife, I used to think about you as a man, I don't know why...
Have you already seen Masca? (after the fire...)
Greetings.
Itahisa.
Pamela Heywood wrote (on
September 20, 2007)
Itahisa: Last time I looked, I was definitely a girl! :-) No, I have still avoided seeing Masca, though mostly because I haven't had time.
Hi Pamela
Much impressed by your comprehensive (and truthful) coverage of the recent fire damage. Do you happen to know if the Masca barranco is still closed to walkers, by the way?
I'm constantly being contacted by the BBC, Sky News etc asking to verify yet another reason why Tenerife is a no go area ie immigrants being washed ashore by the boat-load; fires engulfing the whole island; gangland shootings as regular as happy hour etc. Needless to say they soon lose interest when I tell them the truth.
Keep up the good work. Together we shall repel the sensationalists!
Joe Cawley
Freelance travel writer (The Times, Guardian, Observer, New York Post etc.)
www.joecawley.co.uk