A 52-year old man is under investigation, suspected as having caused a hill fire that started in El Valle on the 16th of September.

Before the fire

This is not to be confused with the huge fire that started in Los Guájares and reached as far as El Valle, destroying over 5,000 hectares of forest and mountain shrub.

He is suspected of having caused a fire through extreme negligence in the area known as Las Cañadas in the Restábal-El Valle area which devoured almost a hectare of almond and fig trees, as well as mountain shrub.

The man had been cutting lengths of metal with a disc cutter and the stream of sparks set fire to the surrounding vegetation on his neighbour’s land.

Gusting winds spread the fire quickly despite the suspect’s efforts to put it out. That task was down to 20 firefighters, two water bombers, two helicopters a fire engine and four officers belonging to the Guardia Civil

Working with experts from Infoca once the fire was out, the Guardia Civil were able to pin point the exact spot where it started and soon came up with how it was started.

A stunning 95% of forest fires are provoked by the hand of Man, the vast majority of which, simply put, through utter stupidity.

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