 A British tourist has described 'blazing red flames' raging near her hotel in Tenerife with firefighters using the resort as a rest point while they tackle the devastating wildfires. Shirley Crowther and her 11-year-old son landed on the island yesterday to find ash clouds in the sky and emergency crews staying in the hotel as they fight the blazes in nearby mountains. Shirley said she had not been given any warning about the fires from her tour operator, TUI, and only became aware of the situation as she looked out of the coach window while they were being transferred to their resort. The foster carer described seeing 'black ash literally falling from the sky' at the Catalonia Punta del Rey in the Las Caletillas resort on the Canary Island's north-east coast. She said: 'On the coach from the airport there were lots of patches of smoke up in the mountains and as we got nearer to the hotel we could see blazing red flames. There were helicopters here and there carrying and dropping water. The rep on the coach never said anything to us. Shirley Crowther arrived at her hotel in Tenerife to find flames erupting from the hilltops near her hotel (Picture: Shirley Crowther) Emergency personnel still in protective gear use the hotel's restaurant on a break from tackling the fires (Picture: Shirley Crowther) The firefighters have been engaged in a struggle to contain a major wildfire that has taken hold in parkland (Picture: Shirley Crowther) 'When we arrived at the hotel we found big clumps of black ash literally falling from the sky, it was horrendous. There was a big ash cloud above the hotel and the surrounding area. Even at this point we had no idea what was going on, we've not had anything from TUI. 'I feel they should take some ownership of the situation and not even have brought us to the hotel quite frankly.' S){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A British tourist has described ‘blazing red flames’ raging near her hotel in Tenerife with firefighters using the resort as a rest point while they tackle the devastating wildfires.
Shirley Crowther and her 11-year-old son landed on the island yesterday to find ash clouds in the sky and emergency crews staying in the hotel as they fight the blazes in nearby mountains.
Shirley said she had not been given any warning about the fires from her tour operator, TUI, and only became aware of the situation as she looked out of the coach window while they were being transferred to their resort.
The foster carer described seeing ‘black ash literally falling from the sky’ at the Catalonia Punta del Rey in the Las Caletillas resort on the Canary Island’s north-east coast.