A lookout at the Pico de la Gorra post, in San Mateo, spotted the first columns of smoke in the midlands of Telde at 17:12 hours. The fire, which affected between eight and ten hectares, was brought under control by a team of 50 operatives.
Last Friday, a forest fire in the midlands of Telde mobilised dozens of personnel and left a scorched area of between eight and ten hectares. The fire, which had an unusual configuration with seven distinct hotspots without a clear beginning or end, was finally controlled during the morning of the same day thanks to the rapid intervention of the firefighting services.
It was a lookout at the Pico de la Gorra post, located in the municipality of San Mateo, who gave the first alert at 17:12 hours. From that observation point, one of three operated by the Forest Fire Operational Unit (UOFF) in Gran Canaria, columns of smoke were spotted rising from the area of Las Breñas and Los Cazadores. The alert allowed for an immediate activation of a large firefighting operation.
Two minutes later, the Emergency and Security Coordination Centre (Cecoes) 112 received a second call from a neighbour who had also seen the smoke. The combination of the lookout's early alert and citizen collaboration was key to mobilising resources before the fire got out of control.
The fire affected an area of steep slopes covered with scrub, grass, pitas, and prickly pears, close to an electrical line. The flames damaged two transformation centres and left 72 Endesa customers without power. The company has reported that its teams have not yet been able to access the affected area to begin repairs, pending authorisation from emergency services.
To combat the fire, a significant operation was deployed, including two helicopters from the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, one from the Emergency and Rescue Group of the Government of the Canary Islands, three helicopters from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, and another from the Civil Guard with the air resources coordinator. On the ground, the Cabildo's Presa and Bravo teams, technical staff and Cecopin personnel, Civil Guard operatives, Civil Protection, Local Police, Telde Consortium and San Mateo Consortium, Canary Police, and National Police acted.
The island's Emergency Director of Gran Canaria, Federico Grillo, highlighted the effectiveness of early detection but also valued the Cabildo's strategy to modernise the surveillance system. "The island had seven observation points, and they have been closing down because statistics since 2015 indicate that, of about 360 declared fires, only eight were reported from the towers," Grillo explained. According to his data, the vast majority of alerts come through calls from the public, as fires usually occur in urban-forest interface areas.
The Cabildo is committed to gradually replacing the observation towers with a system based on cameras, citizen alerts, and greater reinforcement of forest brigades. "As soon as a column of smoke is seen, people call 112," Grillo noted, who believes this model is more efficient and allows for a quicker response.
The Telde fire, the largest in the Canary Islands during 2026, has highlighted the importance of collaboration among different emergency bodies and the need to continue improving detection systems. Residents of the affected area, who remained on edge during the critical hours, were able to return to their homes once the fire was brought under control.
Extinguishing efforts continued throughout Friday morning until the perimeter was secured. Emergency services maintain vigilance in the area to prevent possible re-ignitions. Endesa, for its part, hopes to begin repair work on the electrical line as soon as it is safe to access the area.
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