It appears that the forest fire in Ateca in Aragón that quite quickly consumed 14,000 hectares of woodland and mountain shrub was caused by workers whose task it was to replant trees.

The reforesting company, Land Life, admitted in a communiqué that the fire was caused by workers using a JCB, which caused a spark and set the whole thing off.

Over 2,000 inhabitants from the municipalities of Alhama de Aragón, Bubierca, Castejón de las Armas, Moros and Villalengua had to be temporarily housed in Calatayud – the temporary shelter was quickly overwhelmed because they only had 200 beds available.

Editorial comment: In Andalucía, specifically but not uniquely in Otívar, you cannot use the blade attachment on a strimmer on your land because if you hit a stone it will cause a spark… and that’s all you need, so you can only use nylon cord on the strimmer head during the dry season.

(News: Ateca, Aragon)