No clues to Montgo fire

COSTA BLANCA NORTH: The origin of the September fire that devoured 444 hectares of the Montgo national park remains a mystery.

Investigators from the Guardia Civil’s Seprona environment protection unit and the regional government are stumped, admitted Fire and Emergencies director general Irene Rodriguez.

“The causes are unknown,” Rodriguez said during a recent meeting of the park’s board of governors.

Seprona and investigators from the regional Environment department scoured Cami de la Serpeta in La Plana where the fire began for several days and interviewed the area’s residents.  No evidence of negligence or arson was found, although householders complained that they were being blamed for the fire.

Members of the board of governors revealed that Montgo residents in both Javea and Denia claimed the fire was inevitable, given the tinder-dry drought conditions and accumulation of uncleared undergrowth.

As in the past before the regional government’s spending cuts, Montgo will now have its own five-strong maintenance brigade, announced Environment director general Salome Pradas.