The La Palma fire continues out of control after affecting 4,500 hectares and leaving more than 2,000 evicted

It is feared that the fire will enter the Caldera de Taburiente National Park

The Canary Islands asks that the Reserve and Security Groups be activated

SANTA CRUZ DE LA PALMA, July 15 (EUROPA PRESS) -

The La Palma forest fire, which started last morning in Puntagorda and has entered the municipalities of Tijarafe and Garafía, is out of control after having affected some 4,500 hectares of land and having left more than 2,021 for the moment. evicted neighbors.

This has been reported by the Government of the Canary Islands, which adds that the weather conditions during the day and the changing gusts of wind have complicated the work of extinction and have reactivated the tail of the fire in Garafía.

For its part, at 6:00 p.m., the fire had not entered the Caldera de Taburiente, but it has passed under El Reventón and is in the area of ​​the Hacienda del Cura, which raises fears that it could enter the Park. National.

For his part, the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has indicated that of the more than 2,000 evacuees, only 32 have gone to the reception center in Los Llanos and none in the one in Tazacorte, so the rest are with relatives with friends.

In this way, he called for the responsibility of all the residents of the area to follow the instructions of the agents in the face of the danger that a change in the wind could carry the fire to the center of the town of Tijarafe.

Likewise, he stressed that "in an emergency, people must first be protected, then material goods and in third place are the tasks of extinction."

Clavijo announced that the Delegation of the Government of Spain in the Canary Islands and the Ministry of the Interior have been asked to activate the Reserve and Security Groups (GRS), since the troops who are in evacuation work are having problems carrying out out the evictions.

The president of the Canary Islands pointed out that the intensification of all extinction work has been ordered before nightfall and before the aerial means are withdrawn during the night hours.

Right now there are 10 activated air resources, of which 5 are operating: two 1,500-liter medium-capacity helicopters, two 900-liter light helicopters, and a coordination helicopter.

Meanwhile, on the way to La Palma, there is a FOCA from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and a second seaplane has been activated that will arrive tomorrow.

From the Government of the Canary Islands, coordination tasks have been carried out by various ministries, including the Interior, Defense and Ecological Transition.

For his part, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, as representative of the Government in the area, has assured that all possible means will be made available to facilitate the extinction of the fire as soon as possible and highlighted the correct coordination of administrations under the guidelines of the Government of the Canary Islands.

In this sense, he insisted that at this time the most important thing is the maximum coordination between administrations and the maximum possible support for the professionals who are working in the field.

Finally, the president of the Cabildo de La Palma, Sergio Rodríguez, made a call for responsibility. "We are talking about a very serious issue, we come from where we come from and we know what emergencies mean and we have to act responsibly and listen to all the authorities and evacuate the houses if they ask us to."

In the same way, he insisted on the need for the population to be attentive to official channels and valued coordination between all administrations.