The Province of Granada has lost an area of 11,027 hectares to fire in the last 13 years and so far this summer, we have been very lucky with no major fires.

Last year accounts for almost half of those lost hectares because 5,316 of them went up in smoke, with the most notable fire being that of Los Guájares.

The fact is that Granada is the Andalusian province with most area at risk; of the 174 municipalities, 151 of them lie with fire-risk areas; in other words, 76% of them. Fortunately, 91 of those 151 have fire-protection plans in place and another 43 with their FPP under revision.

Fortunately, Infoca has been busy during the cooler months clearing forestland of undergrowth below trees and the margins of roads and tracks as well as firebreaks: between the 1st of November and the 15th of May, they cleared 680 hectares.

Even though we have been, there have still been 45 local fire outbreaks quickly dealt with before they could grow into major fires (less than one hectare) and 17 larger fires: Freila, Cacín and Albuñuelas amongst them. Freila lost 14 hectares.

Infoca has 38 observation points on elevated land around the province, part of the 198 scattered across Andalucía. It also has 23 fire-fighting stations across the region.

For the whole of Andalucia, Infoca has: 4,700 personnel, eight mobile, weather units, 117 heavy vehicles (101 firetrucks and 16 water refuellers), 1,260 4×4 transport vehicles (mainly Land Rovers) four mobile command post, ten fixed-wing aircraft, 26 transport helicopters with underslung buckets for water bombing use. They also have a helo-transportable, tracked earth-moving vehicle and a helo-transportable, 3,000L, water tank, equipped with a pump and hoses for where fire trucks can’t reach but where firefighters operate.

(News: Granada, Andalucia)