Forest fire in Mijas extinguished, one of the first of the year

The forest fire in the Valtocado area of the Sierra de Mijas, which was declared last Thursday and was one of the first of the year in this Andalusian province, was finally extinguished this Friday, sources from the forest fire extinguishing service of the Andalusia Emergency Agency reported through their social networks. The fire was declared extinguished at 20:00 hours this Friday, and it affected areas of scrub and grass in an incident that occurred before the start of the season focused on these types of fires, which begins each May 15. It had been brought under control at 21:55 hours on Thursday, nearly six hours after it started, and mobilized a super puma helicopter and another semi-heavy one, eight groups of forest firefighters, a Brica brigade, among other personnel, and two fire trucks. Although there is no official information about the origin of the fire, the municipal group of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) in Mijas has asked the Junta de Andalucía and the Mijas City Council to "determine responsibilities in the forest fire declared on Thursday afternoon after a wood chipper caught fire," as they suspect that the Valtocado fire could have been caused by the company contracted for the maintenance of the Sierra de Mijas. The spokesperson for the PSOE in Mijas, Josele González, stated on Thursday: "We ask the Junta de Andalucía to open an investigation to determine responsibilities and for the Mijas City Council to act as a plaintiff so that the true reasons that led to the burning of a wood chipper, possibly from the company hired by the Andalusian government for fire prevention, and whether there was negligence involved, can be revealed,” he added. For the socialist leader, it is “inconceivable” that the company responsible for carrying out fire prevention tasks in the Sierra de Mijas “could be the same one that causes them.” In this regard, González emphasized the environmental damage caused by any forest fire in the "green lung" of the Costa del Sol, especially as summer approaches, when the municipality becomes part of the Danger Zone for forest fire risk in Andalusia. “Thanks to the swift action of the Mijas firefighters and Infoca, a catastrophe was avoided. It must be remembered that a forest fire not only represents a serious loss of our natural resources, which will take years and even decades to recover, but also endangers the integrity of our residents, given the proximity of the Sierra de Mijas to many homes,” he concluded.