The Mayor of El Pinar, Francisco Titos, called for volunteers amongst his fellow villagers to cut out a fire break near the Ermita del Cristo del Zapato.

He got them, totally 50. He later said that it was also a sign of protest because “they were worried,” He explained that they had spent three sleepless nights as mere spectators and had decided to act for themselves to clear fire breaks near the said chapel.

Having achieved their goal, they returned home and dispersed, explained the Mayor.

The Mayor of El Valle, Sandra Garcia, said that it has been very hard for her fellow villagers, seeing the fire on the horizon night after night. She has stated that they wish to provide volunteers for Infoca, but Infoca had advised against it because of the high risks involved.

The Junta de Andalucía continues to keep the alert status at Zero as urban areas are not at risk. Level One, is when a fire is heading directly for a village or settlement area.

Editorial comment: Infoca can’t take the risk of a civilian dying at a fire front. For all the good intentions of the villagers, they are not trained in fire fighting and have no first-hand knowledge of how forest fires, depending on the terrain and available fuel (vegetation) behave. Getting their firefighter teams out of the way of rapidly advancing flames is one thing; losing precious time trying to convince civilians to get the hell out of the way of the fire, is another, especially when their property is in the path of the flames.

(News: El Pinar, Valle de Lecrin, Granada, Andalucia)