James Bryce
By James Bryce
AN investigation is under way into a forest fire which destroyed four homes and 400 hectares of land on the Costa del Sol.
The blaze – which affected parts of Mijas, Marbella and Ojen – saw more than 300 people evacuated from their homes after starting at around 8.30pm on Sunday evening in the Entrerrios area of Mijas.
Andalucia’s Councillor for the Environment Jose Juan Diaz Trillo, suggested the fire had been started deliberately, before confirming that nobody had been injured.
Around 300 firefighters from across Andalucia were hampered by high winds as they tackled the blaze, which caused the temporary closure of part of the A7 highway.
Residents of La Mairena and La Bugancilla urbanisations were evacuated and parts of Calahonda were also briefly affected, although residents are now being allowed to return to their homes.
Around 260 firefighters are involved in dampening down the fire, which is understood to have affected 900 hectares in total.
Click for Costa del Sol fire: In pictures
Do you have pictures of the blaze? Contact james@theolivepress.es
The skyline around Ricmar looks ominous. Hope there are no more serious casualties and that the fire can soon be put out and that people stay safe….
I’d love to know how they evacuated the residents of la mairena,
I live there and we had no notice of evacuation, most of the residents organized it themselves via phone. Several people woke up to find find the fire very close to their apartments and their rooms full of smoke.
However the firefighters were superb, and should be congratulated on how hard they worked.
As of this morning tuesday we still have firefighters on the ground and helicopters putting out the last bits of fire.
This reminds me of the big fire in Mijas a few years ago. It has taken years to recover. Those unfortunate people who live nearby – they now have a huge clean up to do. The ash gets everywhere and the smell permeates everything. We live a few miles from the site and we knew there was a BIG fire because we could smell it in the air.
I was told that these fires are deliberately started on forested land so that it burns down and a few years later developers are able to build on it. Someone else said that ‘they are on to these scams, now.’ I wonder. After all, corruption doesn’t stop just because people are aware of it, does it?