More than 3,000 people on the Spanish island of Tenerife evacuated their homes as a wildfire sparked by high temperatures and strong winds raged in a forested area already ravaged by fire in August.
Emergency services said on social media they had requested assistance from the army’s Military Emergency Unit, saying the blaze, which ignited on Wednesday, was a high-level emergency.
August’s wildfire burned for days, destroying some 37,000 acres of woodland within the national park surrounding the Mount Teide volcano, Spain’s highest peak. Thousands were also evacuated then, with most returning to their homes.
“The temperatures will remain higher (than usual), so we expect more fires to be reactivated in the area,” Rosa Davila, head of Tenerife’s local government, told a news briefing.
She gave no estimate on when those evacuated can return to their homes. Around 74 acres have been affected since Wednesday evening, she said.
Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic off northwest Africa, is on alert for high temperatures that are expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius.
National weather service AEMET said Spain as a whole registered a record six consecutive days of unseasonal heat between September 28 and last Wednesday and more were expected.
Scientists have linked searing temperatures and dry and windy conditions in many parts of the world, including southern Europe, to climate change.
The August fire had been brought under control but never completely extinguished, with embers still burning in the forest.