The forest fire that broke out yesterday Tuesday in a mountainous national park in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, off Africa, has spread to an area of ​​18,000 hectares within 24 hours, as the fire brigade has difficulty controlling it because it is raging in inaccessible areas, resulting in to close roads and to order the hasty evacuation of the inhabitants of five villages.

The perimeter of the fire had reached 22 kilometers last Wednesday night, in extremely dry forest lands and areas with low vegetation in steep canyons, not far from the volcano of Mount Teide – the highest mountain in all of Spain, whose peak reaches the 3,715 meters–, complicating access.

“The fire is out of control” and the outlook “is not positive”, said Fernando Clavijo, a top official of the regional government, during a press conference yesterday afternoon in Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife.

“Our goal for tonight is defensive”, more specifically “that the fire does not continue to spread”, he emphasized.

“We will work to protect residents’ properties,” he added.

Spanish authorities have deployed 14 aircraft – three sent from mainland Spain – and a total of 250 members of the fire brigade and military.

A firefighting seaplane arrived in the largest and most populous of the Canary Islands yesterday afternoon and two more are expected in the morning.

Vicki Palma, the municipality’s adviser on forest fires, warned speaking to a radio station of the Canary Islands that at night the temperatures were going to drop to around 20°C and the winds at sea were going to get stronger.

Pedro Martinez, head of the emergency services, predicted that the situation will be difficult and “intense” today as well.

Rosa Dávila, head of Tenerife’s self-governing council, said access to all the island’s mountains, especially Teide, which is visited by many tourists, was banned to avoid “any incident”.

According to local media, around 150 residents were evacuated from five villages in the north-eastern part of the island, where mainly farms and country houses are located. A dog shelter in the area reported that some of the most vulnerable, with respiratory problems, were rushed away to avoid inhaling smoke.

Both Tenerife airports are operating as normal, according to Spain’s national airport management company AENA.

Last week, a heat wave dried up vegetation in many areas of the Canaries, increasing the risk of wildfires.

Already this summer the Spanish fire brigade has been called to deal with several fires in Gran Canaria and La Palma, two other islands of the Canary archipelago.

Mediterranean countries have been faced with the consequences of heat waves that magnify the risk of fires. Scientists have pointed out that heatwaves are becoming more frequent, more severe, more extensive and are occurring at other times of the year besides summer due to climate change.