FOREST fires raging across Tenerife have forced emergency services to evacuate 1,800 people from their homes – and the flames are still burning.

The blaze broke out on Sunday along with two others on the islands of La Palma and La Gomera, both of which are now mostly under control.

But the inferno in southern Tenerife is raging, say firefighters.

They have already had to evacuate hundreds of residents from the town of Vilaflor, and are creating a type of firewall around it to prevent destruction if the flames get too close.

This is largely as a precaution and Canary Islands regional president Paulino Rivero says as yet no mass panic has broken out.

A further 90 people have had to flee their homes in Ifonche, La Quinta, Taucho and Tijoco Alto.

The eastern side of the blaze, near Guayero and Guía de Isora, remains the most difficult to control due to humidity levels in the atmosphere, but the west side has mainly been stabilised.

Parts of the inferno are impossible to reach by land, meaning hydroplane pilots are solely in charge of bringing the flames under control.