Spain's La Palma island forest fire under control
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 @ 12:49 AM
A forest fire on the Canary Island of La Palma was brought under control Tuesday and another that raged for two weeks in Spain's northern Catalonia region has been extinguished, an emergency official said.
The La Palma fire, which started last Friday in the southern part of the island, destroyed some 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) and burned some 50 houses. La Palma is one of the least developed and greenest of the seven Canary Islands off northwest Africa, and was celebrated by pop star Madonna in her song "La Isla Bonita."
"There are no prospects of the fire (on La Palma) spreading. It's now in a controlled area and all that is left to do is put it out," said island security official Jose Miguel Ruano.
La Palma is also home to some of the world's most powerful observatories, including the recently opened euro130 million ($185 million) Gran Telescopio Canarias reflecting mirror telescope atop an extinct volcano. The telescope's location above cloud cover was selected to take advantage of La Palma's normally pristine skies
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