INFOCA – heroic teams battling wildfires every day of summer

We don’t see their faces or know their names, but since the summer of 2025 began, INFOCA, Andalusia’s elite wildfire-fighting force, has battled nearly 250 blazes with unmatched courage.

By air and land, often risking their lives, they swoop into the sea to scoop water and fly perilously close to raging flames. We hear their planes and helicopters buzzing overhead, and watch in awe as they execute daring manoeuvres to save the breathtaking landscapes that drew us to call Southern Spain home.

The scars of past fires linger: Sierra Bermeja in 2021, where a firefighter lost his life, and Sierra de Mijas in 2022, where wildfires ravaged pristine forests, displaced wildlife, and scorched thousands of hectares of vital mountain terrain – land that sustains the air we breathe. INFOCA was there, selflessly risking everything to protect our sunlit homes.

INFOCA – attacking wildfires in Andalusia head on, all summer

This summer, INFOCA scrambles almost daily, sometimes multiple times, to confront wildfires threatening lives and nature. Ground crews, airlifted to the latest blaze by Super Puma helicopters, wield simple shovels to smother flames by turning earth. Helicopters draw water from lakes and even private pools to douse burning forests. Bulldozers charge into the fire’s heart, carving firebreaks to halt its spread, while amphibious planes skim the sea in daring runs to gather water.

In the past 20 years, 18 Spanish firefighters have perished battling wildfires – blazes often sparked by arson or negligence. Yet INFOCA’s teams, paid little more than local firefighters, press on. As you read this, they’re likely racing toward another perilous inferno. Just recently, their bravery has saved communities in Córdoba, Granada, Alhaurín el Grande, Casares, and Álora. Renowned globally for their coordination and dedication, INFOCA’s heroes risk everything to protect us all. Remember this the next time you see someone flick a cigarette butt, or discard a glass bottle.