Salobreña witnessed two separate house fires in the space of one weekend, literally in the space of hours.

The first occurred Saturday afternoon, necessitating the affected apartment block in Plaza Picasso to be evacuated by the police and firemen. The fire broke out in a cafetería on the ground floor and caused so much smoke, that the decision was made to get everybody from the flats above out.

According to the municipal-police report, locals alerted the emergency services at 16.13h and the Salobreña and Motril fire services attended, together with the Guardia Civil and Policía Local.

Traffic was cut along Avenida Antonio Machado during the couple of hours that it took the firemen to put the fire out.

Once extinguished, neighbours from two of the four block entrances were allowed back in. The rest – 15 families – won’t be able to return to their homes for a couple of days owing to the serious damage to internal sewage pipes, connecting to the main sewage pipes in the foundations.

Although the Town Hall is at the disposition of those made temporarily homeless, the insurance companies are providing alternative accommodation in local B&B’s, whilst others are staying with relatives.

The second fire occurred during the early hours of today, Sunday the 15th, in the Calle Fábrica Nueva. The ground-floor premises was undergoing renovations.

The fires services were alerted around a quarter past one in the morning and the fire was soon dealt with. The damage was very limited.

(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia – Photo: Radio Salobreña)