The Motril law court has officially closed the criminal case regarding the Los Guájares hill fire, as the origin of the fire could not be proven.

The fire, which took place in September 2022, devastated more than 5,000 hectares across five different municipalities: Los Guájares, El Pinar, Albuñuelas, El Valle, and Vélez de Benaudalla.

After conducting investigations into the cause of the fire, the Motril judge concluded that determining the identity of the person behind this possible act of arson has not been duly determined.

The report handed in to the court by the Brigada de Investigación de Incendios Forestales de Granada did not rule out that the cause of the fire was intentional, based on inspections carried out in the area where it started. 

As for the point of origin, or where it started, the report puts it on the righthand-side verge of the GR-4300 road, in the direction of Guájar Alto.

However, no delaying devices, accelerants, or any signs of human activity associated with the use of fire were found at the site. In fact, investigation experts failed to find the means of ignition. 

This, combined with the fact that weather conditions and dry, combustible vegetation suitable for the spread of fire, led the forest-fire Investigators to state that while no hypothesis can be ruled out (neither intentional provocation nor the influence of a poorly extinguished cigarette butt or broken glass) the cause of the fire remains unknown.

So, lacking an explanation on the fire’s origin, the judge concluded that the evidence against the person under investigation; a former forest firefighter who had been working on prevention tasks at the time of the fire, remains mere suspicion; insufficient grounds for prosecution.

There was no appeal against the judge’s decision, so that’s that – somebody has got off scott free, perhaps.

(News: Los Guájares, Temple/Valle de Lecrin, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Forest Fire Case Shelved, Lack of Evidence, 5,000 Hectares, September 2022

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