Sunday, August 12, 2012

Wildfires rage in Canary islands

Disaster News Network: Nearly 5,000 people in Spain's Canary Islands have been evacuated as wildfires race through tinder-dry forests and fields, regional officials said.

The worst affected islands are Tenerife and La Gomera, Britain's Sky News television network reported.

More than 7,400 acres of land, including part of a World Heritage nature reserve, on La Gomera have been scorched since Friday, officials said.

"There is no positive change for the moment," an emergency official told reporters.

Firefighters on the ground were being helped by water-dropping aircraft, the report said.

The islands, located off the coast of Morocco, have experienced the driest conditions in some 70 years, the broadcaster said....

Las Palmas de Anaga on Tenerife, shot by Mataparda, public domain

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