Man arrested in connection with Ontinyent forest fire

Man arrested in connection with Ontinyent forest fire
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By h.b. - Sep 8, 2010 - 12:09 PM
The fire in the south of Valencia continues to burn, as does the fire in the Sierra del Molino in Murcia

One of the fronts of the Ontinyent blaxe - Photo EFE

A person has been arrested in Ontinyent in connection with the starting of the fires which have been burning over the past two days in the south of Valencia province.

First reports indicate that the man arrested by the National Police is a local forest guard from Ontinyent who is currently off work because of his implication in a fire in the Vall’d’Albaida area.
National Police are reported to be taking a statement as investigations continue.

On Tuesday the Minister for Defence, Carme Chacón, visited to see the effects of the forest fire. She described the blaze as one of the fiercest of the year. ‘Once the fire is under control, efforts must be made to detain those responsible’, she said, indicating that it is thought that the fire was started deliberately. The Minister said that it seems that the blaze started in five different places at the same time.

Today, Wednesday, the President of the Generalitat Regional Government, Francisco Camps, has been in the area to see the fire fighting operation.

About 1,200 people have been evacuated from their homes as a precautionary measure from several urbanisations in Agullent.
The estimates for the total amount of land affected have reached 2,500 hectares, and a new fire has also started in Barxeta and remains out of control. Of the earlier blazes the fire in Simat remains out of control. More than 600 people on the ground and 25 aircraft and helicopters remained fighting the fires on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, The fire at Calasparra in the Sierra del Molino in Murcia continues to advance out of control and has now affected 500 hectares of bush and pine.

More than 150 firemen and civil protection workers are currently fighting the flames, helped by a 100 soldiers from the UME emergency unit based in Valencia.

The emergency coordination centre has not ruled out the possibility that the Murcia fire could have been started deliberately because a second fire was noted in the Sierra del Puerto, just a few kilometres away just ten minutes later. That fire was quickly extinguished by the fire service.

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