Readers might remember the hill fire in Güéjar Sierra on the 23rd of last month that consumed 10,000 sq/m of olive grove; there have been developments.

The fire was located in an area known as Los Castañuelos and required a team of fire fighters, an Infoca fire truck and one belonging to the Granada fire service, as well as a fire-extinction helicopter.

Immediately after it was put out, the Guardia Civil began investigating the cause of the fire and soon came up with a 70-year-old man, who has a criminal record, as the prime suspect.

This man had previously threatened the owner of the land that he would torch it. Furthermore, there is at least one eyewitness who saw the accused fleeing the scene.

But this was not the first fire within the municipality; there have been three. The first was on the 11th of July in an area known as El Castañar. The second one was on the 2nd of August in an area known as Cañada de Rojas.

The one on the 2nd appears to have been caused by an overhead, power line which came down near the Camino Padules. The sparks caused the vegetation beneath to catch light and the fire moved up hill from there, threatening nearby rural dwellings.

The police located the owner of the line and charged him with failing to maintain the ground underneath the line by cutting back the vegetation along the route of the cable.

(News: Güéjar Sierra, Sierra Nevada, Andalucia)