Forest fires in the north and north west of the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands have destroyed farms and potato and tomato production land. First reports from the island on the fires that were started at the weekend but burned until Wednesday were patchy but indicated that farms and growers homes had been destroyed as well as leaving land severely burned.

“It is still too early to make any accurate assessments,” a spokeswoman for the association of farmers and growers, Asaga, told freshinfo. “But it is not just the flames, but also the very high temperatures that have caused damage. The largest commercial tomato-production areas are in the south of the island and it is the north and north-west that have been ravaged by the fire so far.”

She said on August 1, that the situation had become serious as fires were spread. “The problem is with the wind and fallen pine needles that are extremely dry and catch fire very easily,” she said.

So far some 13,000ha have been affected in total on Tenerife and 20,000ha on Gran Canaria. Fires also raged on the smaller island of Gomera. The fires are thought to have been started deliberately.

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