Rapid response kills forest fire

FOREST fire in the Valencian Community is an ever-present danger, now accentuated by prolonged drought.

A blaze in Xativa (Valencia) took Alicia Bruce, daughter of Euro Weekly News reader Linda Gonzalez, by surprise as she and her family were leaving a local sports club. They heard firefighting planes and helicopters going over and then they saw ash falling into the swimming pool.

“We didn’t know the fire was so close until we passed fire engines on our way home and saw the flames,” she said.

Fortunately the fire was spotted before it had time to spread and only one hectare of woodland in the Bixquert area was affected. Aircraft scooped up water from a huge pool nearby and the blaze was soon controlled.

The Bixquert fire was one of three put out in Xativa on the same day, initially leading investigators to suspect arson. But closer inspection revealed that all were the result of negligence and the Bixquert fire was caused by burning weeds despite a ban on all rural bonfires.