Charlie Smith
A WOMAN has been arrested on suspicion of starting three separate forest fires on the Costa del Sol.
The 60-year old from Marbella is accused of starting the blazes near Bello Horizonte and Altos de Los Monteros.
Investigators have pointed out that all three fires began at around 7pm, suggesting the suspect was taking advantage of Infoca hydroplanes not being able to operate after this time.
Police responding to a fire in Los Monteros yesterday – the second in four days – received a tipoff before tracing the woman to a car.
She was caught inside the vehicle with ‘flammable material’ and several lighters, before police detained her on charges of a ‘forest crime’.
It comes after a fire on August 22 near the Bello Horizonte urbanization forced 40 homes to be evacuated.
A week later on August 29 the first of two fires broke out in Los Monteros, not far from the Hospital Costa del Sol.
The second fire in the same area then broke out yesterday before police made their arrest of the woman who is accused of all three incidents.
In an unrelated incident a French man was also recently arrested over a forest fire in Estepona.
