 Residents on the Spain's Tenerife said on August 18 they were shocked by the scale of wildfires that have enveloped the holiday island as authorities battled thick smoke and low visibility to contain the blaze. Authorities said on Friday that containment efforts and more favorable weather had slowed the spread of the blaze. Experts have pointed to the abandonment of rural land and accumulation of combustible material in the forests as a key factor along with rising temperatures. The wildfire broke out on Wednesday in a mountainous national park around the Mount Tide volcano, Spain's highest peak and has burned through nearly 4,000 hectares of vegetation, although no houses have been destroyed.