Canary Islands warning as Tenerife and 4 other holiday spots issued 'alert' message
Intense heat and dry weather conditions have raised fears of fires breaking out in Tenerife, El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera and Gran Canaria.
A warning about the risk of wildfires has been issued across five holiday hotspots in the Canary Islands. Intense heat and dry weather conditions have raised fears of fire breaking out in Tenerife, El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera and Gran Canaria.
The wildfire "pre-alert" comes after a sharp decline in rainfall and amid soaring summer temperatures as well as the arrival of a dry, dusty wind from the Sahara Desert, known as "calima". The "pre-alert" is part of INFOCA, the island chain's official wildfire response.
Officials are calling on people to be extra vigilant, with forests across the islands deemed vulnerable to blazes. Locals and tourists have been urged to avoid doing anything which could spark a fire and report signs of smoke to the islands' emergency services straightaway.
A huge wildfire raged through forest areas around Mount Teide on Tenerife in August 2023. It plagued the area for a week and forced thousands of people to flee.
General advice issued to stop wildfires breaking out includes people not dropping cigarette butts or lit matches on the ground or throwing them from the windows of vehicles.
Authorities have also called on visitors not to drop litter, but to put it in a bin or take it back to their accommodation.
News of the warning in the Canary Islands comes as over 25,000 people were evacutated from three provinces of Canada as dozens of wildfires continued to rage on Sunday (June 1).
Most of those who were evacuated came from Manitoba, which declared a state of emergency last week.
About 17,000 people there were evacuated by Saturday (May 31) along with 1,300 in Alberta.
Some 8,000 people in Saskatchewan had been relocated as officials warned the number could rise.
Don't miss: Tourists vow to 'stop going' to holiday hotspot after 'green tax' introduced
Don't miss: Tourist months could be lost in Spain due to extreme heat, warns meteorologist
Don't miss: Gardeners urged to stop planting hydrangeas due to silent killer — grow these 3
Saskatchewan’s Public Safety Agency warned on Sunday: "Air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour. As smoke levels increase, health risks increase."
The province's leader, Scott Moe, said firefighters, emergency crews and aircraft from other provinces and US states, including Alaska, Oregon and Arizona, were being sent to help fight the blazes.
He said ongoing hot, dry weather is allowing some fires to grow and threaten communities, with resources to fight the fires and to support evacuees stretched thin.
Mr Moe said: "The next four to seven days are absolutely critical until we can find our way to changing weather patterns, and ultimately a soaking rain throughout the north."
In Manitoba, more than 5,000 of those evacuated were from Flin Flon, almost 400 miles northwest of the provincial capital, Winnipeg.
In northern Manitoba, fire knocked out power to the community of Cranberry Portage, forcing a mandatory evacuation order on Saturday for about 600 locals.
The fire menacing Flin Flon started a week ago near Creighton, Saskatchewan, and quickly jumped across to Manitoba. Crews have struggled to contain it. Water bombers have been intermittently grounded due to heavy smoke and a drone incursion.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service deployed an air tanker to Alberta and said it would send 150 firefighters and equipment to Canada.
In some parts of the US, air quality reached "unhealthy" levels on Sunday in North Dakota and small swathes of Montana, Minnesota and South Dakota, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow page.
