MIJAS – A fire has been raging in the area of Venta de los Condes in Mijas Pueblo (Malaga) since the early hours of Sunday. As a precaution, the fire brigade evacuated 300 people from various urbanisations.
These concerned the residential areas of Rincón del Hinojal, Lomas del Flamenco, and the northern part of Urbanisación Mijas Golf (Condesa, Lago Mar Golf, Golf Zenit and Pueblo Mijitas). The other residents of Mijas Golf were advised to stay indoors because of the smoke.
The fire, classified as level one, has also caused the closure of the A-387 road between kilometres 0 and 9.5. This led to the evacuation of hundreds of people from the Valtocado neighbourhood. The town hall had set up a reception centre in the Osunillas sports facility.
Strong wind
The strong winds in the area, with gusts of 80 kilometres per hour, were a major obstacle in the fight against the fire, which was spreading at a high speed. Infoca, Andalucia’s forest firefighting service, reported at the end of Sunday afternoon that the fire was controlled.
Extensive resources were deployed to fight the fire, including two heavy and one light helicopter, two amphibious aircraft, a ground cargo aircraft, 84 ground troops (forest firefighters), five fire engines and a medical unit. The emergency number 112 received hundreds of calls about smoke and flames in the affected area.
Patricia Navarro, the Andalucian government’s regional delegate in Málaga, upgraded the situation to level one, necessitating further evacuations.
Nearly 200 people involved in fighting the Mijas fire
At around 10.45 am, Navarro and Mijas mayor Ana Mata reported that nearly 200 people, including firefighters and other emergency services, were involved in fighting the fire. They called for calm and caution among the population. Around 4.00 pm, the forest fire fighting service communicated that the evolution of the fire was ‘favourable’ and a few hours later the fire was under control and people could return to their homes.
“Very complicated fire”
It has been a “very complicated” fire, the counsellor said, both because of the forest mass and, above all, because of the fact that there are many scattered homes, so the first efforts were concentrated on evicting the families “with the complication that comes with doing it in the middle of the night”.
Also read: How a 63-year old local helped firefighters in the Mijas fire
