WATCH: La Palma fire raised to a Level 2 emergency as it burns uncontrollably

The La Palma fire was raised to a Level 2 emergency as it burned uncontrollably. The fire broke out at midday on Tuesday, August 17 and by the late afternoon the fire was raging uncontrollably and a level 2 emergency had been declared.

On Tuesday afternoon the fire was advancing towards Los Llanos in an uncontrollable manner. The fire had already affected homes in the town and several farms too. Over a hundred people from the local area had been forced to be evacuated. The evacuees had been quickly moved to the local sports centre, which for the time being will be temporary accommodation for these people.

Late on Tuesday afternoon Mariano H. Zapata the president of La Palma was forced to sign the order to increase the alert level to level 2. This means that now the fire is out of the hands of local services and into the hands of the Government of the Canary Islands. They will now lead the operation.

The decision to increase the alert level was made after the blaze jumped across the LP-3 highway. Shocking scenes were witnessed by drivers as the fire progressed. The fire made its way through the Pasadena football field and then headed on to areas including Tendiña and Tajuya.

The fire then carried on uncontrollably and headed to Los Llanos de Aridane via the Dos Pinos road. The blaze has even claimed vehicles in its path and damaged commercial infrastructures too.

Local resources that have been fighting the fire including security and emergency personnel on the island and helicopters, were expected to be joined on Tuesday night by resources brought in by the Canary Islands Government. The surrounding islands will all join in the fight and Firefighters based in Tenerife are heading in to help. Resources are also heading in from the EIRIF in La Gomera, El Hierro, and the Military Emergency Unit (UME). The operation to tackle the blaze will now be a joint one.

Hace escasos minutos (no más de 7 minutos), esta era la perspectiva por encima del Conato de #IF en #ElPaso. pic.twitter.com/MLmSDwTJRm

— Meteo_Tenerife (@tenerife_meteo) August 17, 2021

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