10,000 evacuated as fires rage in Canary Islands
Helicopters are being used to help fight the fires
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Tuesday, 31, Jul 2007 04:37
Spanish environment minister Cristina Narbona has declared a state of "maximum alert" as fires continue to wreak havoc in the Canary Islands.
The fires on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife have resulted in the evacuation of 10,000 people and destroyed 24,000 hectares of land.
Local officials have said that 5,200 people have been moved from Gran Canaria and at least 5,700 people evacuated from Tenerife.
Firefighters are working in tandem with emergency helicopters, dropping water on the areas in an effort to put out the fires which are burning on four fronts.
The head of the Canary Islands regional government Paulino Rivero said: "The rugged landscape of these islands makes firefighting very complicated, except from the air.
"But while there is a lot of wind and very high temperatures, helicopters generally cannot operate."
Local police arrested a 37-year-old man on Saturday who had admitted to starting the fire on the Gran Canaria island.
The man, who works as a forest ranger, said he had started the fires as his employment contract was ending soon and he wanted to continue working.
A heatwave across continental Europe has resulted in similar fires in Macedonia and caused the deaths of many people in Hungary and Romania.
The Canary Islands are an archipelago of seven islands located off the north-western coast of Africa.