Three suspected arsonists arrested after forest fire on Spain’s Costa Blanca

Three youths have been arrested in connection with a forest fire in Murcia’s El Menjú de Cieza.

THEY are accused of deliberately starting a fire in mid-June which destroyed 2,000 sqm of forest and 400 sqm of agricultural land.

The blaze occurred in a forest plot in El Menjú, a recreational area on the right bank of the river Segura which is frequently used by walkers as the path links Abarán and Cieza.

After burning pine, brush and other native species, the flames spread into agricultural land and several helicopters and fire units were mobilised.

Officers from the Guardia Civil’s Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) and the Environmental Crimes Investigation Brigade (BRIDA) of the CARM, carried out an ‘exhaustive ocular inspection’ in the areas where both fires started, and established they had been set intentionally.

Witnesses reported seeing several young people away from the scene and after police investigations, three minors have been charged with the crimes of arson and fire damage.