Fires Raging

(Photo from the Anahi Website)

The island is in a total state of emergency due to fires that are spreading all over the South of the island, luckily I am in the centre towards the North. The fire was originally lit on purpose by a forest reserve worker who had a gripe with his employers over the termination of his job! It is totally scary. This is a photo that Paco from the Anahi Association published on the Anahi website (the Society for the Protection of Animals) The animals had to be rescued from the kennels there. This was where our dogs, Páidi and Dick were going to stay but we've had to find them another place. The Nature Reserve and Bird Park were burnt to the ground and about 60 animals died. It really is terrifying. It is difficult to get it under control because of the heat wave and strong winds we've been having. There is also a lot of doubt about the efficiency of the fire services. They could only operate one helicopter because of the winds yet there are special aeroplanes available to work in all conditions, why weren't they used? A few thousand people have been evacuated - some hid in their homes to try to protect their houses and quite a few succeeded by pure will and desperation. They burst water pipes and wet all the land around their homes, they worked with a hose pipe for 12 consecutive hours while one helicopter flew overhead! There are definitely loads of questions to be asked about how this crisis was handled.