Quick fire in Javea

THE peace of the early afternoon in Javea on Thursday was shattered by the sound of wailing sirens and the overhead drone of a helicopter when fire broke out in scrubland between two villas on the upper slopes of Calle Mar de Noruega, Urbanisation Rafalet, not far from Javea Golf Club.
Rafalet French residents Christian and Martina Le Caillon were out when the fire broke out behind their villa. Christian was first to spot the smoke from the road as he returned and raced toward home at the same time asking neighbours to call the Bomberos. Martina arrived home shortly afterwards as worried residents gathered outside police cordons
Smoke and flames
The fire was taking hold quickly and smoke and flames could be seen shooting high into the air as the Le Caillon’s British neighbours arrived to find three fire engines parked at the end of their road with police cordoning off the area. Anxious to be sure their two dogs, a Spaniel and a Labrador, were safe, they quickly entered their home, grabbed their pets from the smoke-filled villa and left, while emergency services carried out their work putting out the fire with the help of a helicopter spraying water onto the flames from above.
Terrifyingly fast
Martina told Euro Weekly News: “It was terrifying. The fire happened so fast and nobody knows how it started. The Bomberos, who came from Gata de Gorgos, were absolutely wonderful, arriving so promptly and so thorough. They stayed most of the night, continuing to damp down the scrubland behind our house to make sure not a spark remained.”
Local residents expressed some concern that plots which are de-urbanised carry a real risk of fire: “When the land has not been cleared and cleaned, it is so inflammable,” said Martina, “I think the council should do something about that.” After a long and relatively dry period without rain, the smallest spark can set an entire hillside ablaze within just a few minutes, a lesson Javea residents learned from the disastrous Montgo fire last year that devastated nearly 450 hectares of natural parkland.
Lucky
For Martina, Christian and their British neighbours, this fire left only a sleepless night and a major clean up to face: “We were lucky,” said Martina, “Lucky that the Bomberos were called in so quickly and were so efficient, lucky that we were not all fast asleep when the fire started and lucky no one was hurt.”