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Date Published: 08/10/2021

ARCHIVED - Sierra Bermeja fire still raging underground one month on

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The Málaga wildfire has still not been fully extinguished, as residents fear fresh outbreak

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Sierra Bermeja fire still raging underground one month on

The subsoil of Sierra Bermeja, north of Estepona (Málaga), is still burning underground a whole month after a wildfire which burnt down 10,000 hectares of forest and claimed the life of one firefighter. Two fire engines, 25 firefighters and aerial assistance are still there trying to locate hot spots beneath the earth and cool them down to prevent the fire from reemerging. A recent study has found that 47% of Spanish towns are at “high risk” of being affected by wildfires.

The fire started at 21.35pm on September 8, and burned on the surface for six days. It was only a welcome rainstorm that helped put a stop to the ecological catastrophe. It was the third fire to affect the area in 2021 alone, due to increasing abandonment of the forest and a failure to implement basic fire prevention measures like roads. “We couldn't get to some places because the vehicles couldn’t get through the forest tracks, which were in very bad condition, like the firebreaks,” said one of the firefighters who took part in extinguishing the flames.

The fire was almost certainly started on purpose, and the Guardia Civil have launched an investigation into who could be responsible. By triangulating signals from telephone towers in the area, they hope to locate the culprit via their mobile phone. One of the hypotheses is that it was a neighbourhood dispute, or that it was something to do with drug traffickers.

Whatever the cause, the results are the same. The Sierra Bermeja, the back door to the Costa del Sol, is now eerily silent. The earth is charred and blackened. Barely any insects survive under the stained stones. A few mountain goats peep out in search of any remaining small shoots of grass. Experts predict the area will take decades to fully regenerate.

#IFJubrique | Ayer la vida se abría paso en #SierraBermeja después de tanta destrucción con un vídeo del ciervo blanco. Hoy disfrutamos de una pareja de corzos.
▶️Contra los incendios todos sumamos, todos ganamos. No permitamos que nos quiten algo tan preciado.

Llama al 1-1-2☎️ pic.twitter.com/qIqRbwJi4K
— INFOCA (@Plan_INFOCA) September 24, 2021

Local councils have hardly any resources to cope with the damage. The Provincial authorities in Málaga have pledged eight million euros to rebuild infrastructure, while the Junta de Andalucía has promised a further 4.5 million to build a new Forest Defence Centre in the area. Local residents say it is too little, too late.

“We feel totally abandoned,” said Fernando Serrano, a resident of Genalguacil. The forestry plan has been out of date since 2015. The pipes in Júzcar have melted and townspeople must now draw their water from a spring full of limescale and it’s not even potable. The more than 3,000 people who were evicted from their homes watched fire crews being sent to the Estepona area to put out flames will their back gardens burned.

The sub-delegate of the Government, Javier Salas, has urged regional politicians in Andalucía “not to shirk their responsibility” as practically all the damage is to public forests and farms under their jurisdiction.

Time will tell if the Sierra Bermeja gets the help it needs, or if the fire still bubbling under the surface will break out once again before that.

Image: Jesús Navarro Twitter

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