A huge catastrophe was narrowly avoided by the prompt action of the Infoca, fire fighters in Cañar, in the Alpujarra on the 2nd. As is the case in far too many forest or mountain brush fires, it appears that the fire was deliberately started.

It took the fire crews just over three hours to put the fire out, thereby preventing the Parque Natural de Sierra Nevada being converted into an ashtray. Even so, 16 hectares of mountain brush and pine saplings were destroyed.

The fire started in the south of the municipality of Cañar, near the riverbed of Río Sucio, very close to the hippy (new-age travellers) encampment in the Pago de Beneficio.

According to the Infoca report, the first ignition point generated a fire that only managed to destroy one hectare before the fire fighters could put it out. However, whoever had provoked the first fire then started another one just across the river from the first and it was the second ignition point that caused the most damage.

The fire began climbing the hillside, reaching the GR-4201 road, which had to be closed to traffic from 14.30h to 17.00h, as the flames had crossed over the tarmac and had continued up the hillside.

The fire was declared a Level One Fire because of dwellings in its path; 200 people were evacuated from their homes, including the residents of the Pago de Beneficio hippy settlement, who were escorted on foot by the Guardia Civil.

The evacuees had to wait nearly six hours in the shade of an olive grove, where the Órgiva Town Hall provided sandwiches, fruit and water for them.

Even after the fire was declared extinguished, fire detachments remained on duty during the evening and night in case the wind caused the fire to reignite.

Infoca used everything that they had at their disposal to combat the fire, deploying twelve aircraft, eight foot teams, three fire trucks, the regional back-up team (Brica), a meteorological & communications unit, as well as a mobile medical team. All told over 100 personnel were committed.

The reason for this extensive use of fire-fighting resources, even though reserves must be kept back just in case another fire breaks out in a different area, was because Infoca both feared that the fire could have moved north onto the village of Cañar, or onto Puente Alto on the south side of the Sierra Nevada, treasured for its oak and pine forests – the abrupt terrain there would have made it tremendously difficult to tackle.

Enhorabuena, Infoca.

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(News: Cañar, Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)