A wildfire at the end of the season

Posted on: 30 October 2010

Today we have had our first and only major wildfire this summer. We nearly made it to the end of summer without one. I grabbed the point and press camera before taking the dogs out this morning, quite a normal thing for me to do. Whilst walking I thought I could smell smoke, I looked around and to my amazement the hillside opposite Lanjaron (Sierra de los Guájares) was in flames with smoke billowing out. How I had not seen that before ive no idea, must have been sleepy still.

The first time I noticed the fire which had been going since 1.30am

I took photos with the little camera and even a short video and when I got home I got the big camera out and recorded the days events, which sadly I have to say are still going on. The fire is now well under control but as I type this at 6.30pm there are still 5 helicopters and 2 planes trying their best to get it out before the sun sets and then its over to the ground crew for the night, who I assume will stay over night to make sure it dosnt start again. Very high winds are due tomorrow so fingers crossed its all safely out by then. Click the link for more information on wildfires. Having just seen an on line paper it looks like the fire was arson, at the moment the paper reports that over 200 hectares of forest has been burned, 12 helicopters, 3 planes, 152 specialists, 20 environmental agents, fire engines and 6 other vehicles have been in action all day. Apparently it started at 1.30am!!

One of the many helicopters helping to extinguish the fire

How the emergency services co-ordinate something like this is beyond me. With 15 airborne devices and a huge amount of ground crew, how do you make sure that everyone is where they are supposed to be so they dont get drenched or retardant soaked, or how helicopters and planes dont fly into one another. All credit to these people for they do an amazing job. An interesting blog I came across a few years back was this one named Wildland Firefighter written by a firefighter from Granada, well worth a look even if its just at the photos and videos.

4 helicopters in one shot