A man in his late 80s died in Sopotújar on his land because of a hill fire which he had unwittinly cause when burning cuttings.

A man in his late 80s died in Soportújar on his land because of a hill fire which he had unwittingly caused when burning cuttings.

The incident that claimed the life of 89-year-old, Fulgencio Rodríguez, took place on Wednesday the 17th. 

The first calls that Infoca received alerting them to the fire was around 13.30h and they used two helicopters and three firefighter units.

The death of Fulgencio, who was the eldest person in this Alpujarra village, was received with sadness and dismay because he was a well liked resident of the village.

And here the article could conclude, but thanks to a contributor to the Ideal newspaper who covers rural life in the Alpjuarra, Rafael Vílchez, and who was a good friend of the victim, we can tell you a little more about him.

Fulgencio was typical of his generation in rural Andalucía; minimal school education and back-breaking labour from before he could even grow facial hair.

He began work at the age of 14 digging holes for planting pines, 101 every day, for which he earnt 37 pesetas (around 20 euro centimes). He used to bolster these meagre earnings by walking down from the mountains with 50 kilos of firewood on his back to sell for seven pesetas (less than a 5 euro-cents coin).

He got married just before his 18th birthday and almost immediately had to start his military service (three years) in Zaragoza. Then he went back to his smallholding. Then, like so many of his generation, he emigrated to Europe to find work, in Germany and France.

In 2001 he retired and returned to Soportujar to continue working the land, his chickens, his grape vines and his mule.

(News: Soportuja, Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Died in a Hill Fire, Fulgencio, Burning Cuttings, Infoca, Helicopter

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