Wildfire spreads on Spain's Tenerife, forcing thousands from homes

The wildfire on the Spanish island of Tenerife that has forced thousands of people from 11 towns to flee their homes remained out of control emergency services said

A wildfire on the Spanish island of Tenerife that has forced thousands of people to flee their homes remained out of control on August 20, despite a slight improvement in weather conditions during the night.

Orange flames lit up the night sky from Saturday into Sunday on hillsides just above the lights of inhabited areas, while thick black smoke billowed high into the air.

Late on Saturday, emergency services said the fire was now affecting 10 towns, although 11 had been evacuated as a precaution. No major tourist areas have been affected.

It covered an area of over 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) with a perimeter of 70 km (40 miles), spreading from 5,000 hectares and a perimeter of 50 km early on Saturday.

Regional authorities said over 12,000 people had been evacuated, revising down their earlier provisional estimate of 26,000.

Weather conditions overnight were "better than expected" Tenerife's fire brigade said on Sunday on X (formerly Twitter).

Fernando Clavijo, Canary Islands' regional leader, said the largest firefighting deployment in the history of Tenerife had so-far prevented the loss of any homes.