Spain’s Canary Islands on fire

MADRID – Firefighters worked yesterday to extinguish a four-day-old forest fire on Spain’s Canary island of Gran Canaria, helped by water-dropping aircraft.

Meanwhile, the number of people evacuated increased to more than 5 000, authorities said. The fire, which began on Friday in a mountainous area, has already charred some 10 000 hectares of woodland in the Mogan region in the southwest of Gran Canaria, which is part of Spain’s Canary Island archipelago located off Africa’s northwest coast.Eight firefighting aircraft were working to smother the fire, the state-run news agency Efe reported.Some 5 200 people, including some tourists, had to be evacuated from the area as a precaution as dozens of homes were engulfed by the flames, said a spokesman for the emergency service of the regional government in Gran Canaria.On Saturday, police said they arrested a 37-year-old forest ranger, who allegedly acknowledged starting the fire, saying his job contract was about to expire and he wanted to keep working.Firefighters were also battling fires on the island of Tenerife, where 2 600 hectares of land, most of it forested with pine trees, had been burnt since Monday.Nampa-APThe fire, which began on Friday in a mountainous area, has already charred some 10 000 hectares of woodland in the Mogan region in the southwest of Gran Canaria, which is part of Spain’s Canary Island archipelago located off Africa’s northwest coast.Eight firefighting aircraft were working to smother the fire, the state-run news agency Efe reported.Some 5 200 people, including some tourists, had to be evacuated from the area as a precaution as dozens of homes were engulfed by the flames, said a spokesman for the emergency service of the regional government in Gran Canaria.On Saturday, police said they arrested a 37-year-old forest ranger, who allegedly acknowledged starting the fire, saying his job contract was about to expire and he wanted to keep working.Firefighters were also battling fires on the island of Tenerife, where 2 600 hectares of land, most of it forested with pine trees, had been burnt since Monday.Nampa-AP