Hive keeper charged over forest fire in San Roque

A MAN believed to be behind a fire in San Roque on May 29 has been charged with causing a forest fire by the Guardia Civil.

Investigations by the police force’s Seprona nature protection branch revealed that the fire started in a beehive, and the owner was located.

Smoke machines used to flush bees out while manipulating hives, Seprona officers explained, can reach extremely high temperatures and let off sparks, and the man is believed to have failed to take precautions and to have allowed the area surrounding his hives to become overgrown with weeds, which quickly caught alight.