The Guardia Civil are investigating a man suspected of having caused the hillfire in Los Guájares area on the 17th of March.

On the day of the fire, the Guardia Civil patrol from Vélez Benaudalla arrived to find the man trying to put out a bonfire of tree cuttings on his property with a hose.

The fire had got out of control owing to the wind and ended up consuming 300 sq/m of wild cane and hillside shrub between Guájar Faragüit and Guájar Alto. A fire crew from Motril had to be called out to control and eventual extinguish the fire

The police asked the man for his fire permit and it turned out that he didn’t have one – you cannot burn tree cuttings etc on your land without a permit obtained at your local town hall, issued by the nearest fire station to your country property. Such permits are issued during the winter months and are only valid during the mornings.

From the 1st of June until the 15th of October it is totally forbidden to light any sort of fire in the countryside, including BBQs, etc. In wooded areas, you cannot even drive along tracks because the heat of an exhaust could set off a fire.

The 74-year-old man could be facing a charge of serious negligence through contravening the law covering the burning of agricultural waste (Decreto 247/2001, 13th November).

A whopping-great 95% of all forest fires are caused by the hand of Man, the majority of which is through negligence rather than deliberate arson.

(News: Los Guájares, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)