More than half of forest fires are arson, says WWF

Battling the flames

SPAIN In a recent report the Spanish branch of WWF says that 55% of the forest fires from 2001 to 2010 were intentional, but only 1.5% of the arsonists were identified. That 1.5% increases to 9% if the human factor is taken into account, with intentionality or otherwise. The environmental organization wants the Criminal Code applied to its full extent, in the belief that this would have a dissuasive effect, according to the head of WWF Spain, Juan Carlos del Olmo. The report, sponsored by the AXA Foundation and titled Forests: vulnerable to large fires, says that part of the problem is bad forestry management and lack of prevention, not the forests themselves. Del Olmo pointed out that 87% of the forest area in the country have no management planning at all.>>>

Unemployed to help with clean-up after fires

MADRID (Agencies) The unemployed in Spain will be drafted to clean up the remains of brush and forest fires that have destroyed some 180,000 hectares of land throughout the country. If they refuse, they are likely to lose at least three months of their unemployment benefits. The emergency measure was approved by the Cabinet and announced by Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, who also said that it applied only to those on the Plan Prepara programme, a government subsidy for the long term jobless whose benefits have run out.

Fire razes 75 hectares in Grazalema yesterday

High temperatures cause smoke inhalation problems

GAZALEMA Flames swept through 75 hectares of the Sierra de Grazalema Nature Park, mostly in the municipalities of Cortes de la Frontera and Jimera de Líbar. Temperatures of 40 degrees C or more made control difficult as well as four injuries among the firefighters from INFOCA. These were for smoke inhalation on a day without even breeze in that area. One of the men had to be rescued from the fron line by his team mates, and later taken to hospital, where was treated with oxygen. The mayors of both places thought the fire was the result of arson.

Sentences for fire setting to be increased

MADRID The Justice Minister, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, announced on Tuesday that the Council of Ministers will approve this month, to come into effect in September, an change in the Criminal Code to increase sentences on those found guilty of setting forest and brush fires, and to require financial responsibility for the damage caused. The announcement was made in Santiago de Compostela, where the minister was meeting the President of the Galician region, Alberto Núñez Feijoo. Galicia is very prone to fire setting in the summer. Maximum prison sentences will thus be increased to six years, one more than at present. Three new aggravating factors will also apply: that the fire is set close to an inhabited area, that it impacts a special environmental protection area, and, "particularly important" in the minister's words, that the fire is set at a time of particular weather or terrain conditions that "relevantly" increase the possibility of the fire propagating extensively.

Who are these guardians of the mountain?

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR There have already been several brush fires in the hills and mountains around us. They have all been put under control and extinguished. We have seen the pictures and may have even witnessed the horror of a fire close by. Summer, especially from now on, at its driest, is the highest risk time for fires, most of which begin in the mountain forests, largely in the Los Alcornocales Nature Park. But what kind of people, and preparations, are trying right now -and during the whole year- to make sure that 2011 is even better than 2010 in terms of the number of fires. Last year was the very best of the last 30 years. In the province of Cadiz, the Plan de Prevención y Extinción de Incendios de Andalucía (known as INFOCA) has over 100 people out there in the hills watching every corner for signs of flames or smoke.>>>