“I thought I should tell the world sad news today, but it didn’t happen.” Fire made night hard in Izañaat the heights Tenerife. Director Rafael Rebolo, Canary Islands Institute for Astrophysics (IAC), He was convinced that scientific facilities could not resist the unstoppable advance of the fire. However, the uninterrupted operation of the containment devices both day and night, saved in excess to the Observatory’s telescopes Teide of the flames
The fire has not reached the Izaña Atmospheric Research Center facilities at this time. State Meteorology Institution (omen)although its workers are still waiting for the fire to spread in certain areas where scientific facilities are located.
Night work carried out by approximately 60 people, The work between the fire brigades of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) stationed on the peaks of Tenerife, and especially in that area, allowed the fire to stop its progress for the time being, and the scientific facilities were saved. from the flames, at least for now.
Both Aemet and IAC will be released in the next few hours. can be stopped completely fire and within a few days they will be able to access them for a more comprehensive assessment of the damage.
Teide Observatory staff were evacuated on Thursday. “Since then, we have followed the progress of the fire through cameras installed at the observatory,” Rebolo explains. In this way, they were able to see “the front approaching on Saturday”, although the field of view was not very wide. Disaster seemed “inevitable”.
Authorities are watching the Izaña front with concern and will work to control it today.
Earlier on Sunday, the director of the IAC tried to warn of potential impact scenarios by sending a mass email to all Spanish and foreign institutions that are in some way affiliated with the Observatory. “I also spoke to the island authorities to warn them that the fire was coming,” he explains. “He arrived at three in the afternoon on Sunday and we saw him live,” Rebolo explains.
before the fire comes had placed a fire barrier around it. and both IAC and Aemet have opened two cisterns, one containing more than 200 cubic meters of water, to firefighters’ use to stop the spread of flames.
However, even the roads surrounding the observatory could not stop the fire that continued uninterrupted 40 meters away. French Themis and German Stella telescopes, and the 150 Canarian Quijote telescope. “It surrounded us on several fronts,” Rebolo emphasizes.
same thing happened omenAs explained by Virgilio Carreño, the incidental head of fundamental systems at the Izaña Center for Atmospheric Research. “A tongue of fire passed through one of the hangars a few yards away and finally landed in Fasnia,” explains Carreño, of that front and the one at the foot of the hangar. badajoz valleyThey are the most concerned right now. “We have several very sensitive scientific facilities in that location,” he explains.
Firefighters continue to work piecemeal in the area so that the infrastructure is not damaged and the fire is under control so that it does not go downhill and affect other municipalities. At a press conference this morning, Pedro Martínez, head of the Cabildo de Tenerife Forestry Service, pointed out that this area is “alarming” and insisted that the media act in this place today.
The fire was only 40 meters from the Themis and Stella telescopes.
in the region only there are several dozen professionals working from the ground up as well as seaplanes and helicopters that collect water from a large temporary raft set up in the area.
According to Rafael Rebolo One of the most extreme conditions Teide Observatory has faced. “We’ve had terrible blizzards and even hurricane winds that blew the covers of some telescopes, but we’ve never seen anything more devastating on the island,” he emphasizes. While the researchers await an assessment at the bottom of the field, they do not rule out that some minor damage may have occurred at both scientific facilities.