The Guardia Civil, police operation, Bermejafire, instigated to find out the culprit behind the Peña Escrita blaze this summer has made an arrest.

The said hill fire burnt 600 hectares of farmland and woodland within the municipality of Almuñécar, also reaching into the municipality of Nerja.

The fire was reported at 20.00h on the 13th of August, which spread rapidly owing to strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour. In fact, it took nearly three days for Infoca to put it out completely.

The environmental department of the Guardia Civil, Seprona immediately opened an investigation to find out what or who caused the fire, working closely with the Brigada de Investigación de Incendios Forestales de la Delegación Territorial de Sostenibilidad y Medio Ambiente belonging to the Junta de Andalucía

The point where the fire began was established using clues on the ground, such as burn marks on rocks, scorched by the approaching fire on one side, for example.

Not before long accumulated clues and evidence pointed towards a 56-year-old suspect: the exhaust pipe on his tractor set off vegetation, as after several hours with the motor running it reached temperatures causing it to glow. As it went along, the tractor presumibly started several flash points and the high winds did the rest.

Consequently, the suspect faces charges of serious negligence for failing to follow established conditions contained with the Decreto 247/2001, which concerns the prevention and tackling of forest fires.

The farmer had bought the tractor the day before the fire and the company that sold it to him did so without a valid ITV. In fact, this second-hand machinery hadn’t passed one ITV in the 30 years of its existence. For this reason the company that sold him the tractor faces charges of being an accessory before the fact.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Forest Fire, Peña Parda, Infoco, Police Investigation, Suspect Arrested, Tractor Exhaust