On Tuesday morning, Infoca carried out a prescribed burn in the Camino del Hipódromo-El Chaparral area, in accordance with Decree-Law 3/2024 of 6 February, which authorises this type of treatment throughout the year, subject to the approval of a technical plan that sets out the execution conditions, the personnel involved and the necessary safety measures.

As pointed out by the director of Infoca in Malaga, Alejandro Molina, this is the first time that this type of operation, aimed at reducing the load of plant fuel and preventing fires that could affect neighbouring residential developments, has been undertaken in the Andalusian region with the aim of protecting the urban-forest interface: "Our goal is to implement this type of practice throughout the province, and today's is the first prescribed burn carried out in Andalusia with this purpose. In this respect, we are pioneers".

For four hours, an Infoca team, in collaboration with the Mijas and Marbella fire brigades, as well as the Forest Fire Laboratory of the University of Córdoba, operated in an area close to several residential developments along the Camino del Hipódromo-El Chaparral. "This is an area with a high recurrence of fires, with a heavy load of scrubland, and the objective was none other than to protect the residential areas bordering the forest zones", said Molina, who recalled that "the last fire occurred ten years ago and ended up directly affecting the residential development".

More than 30 personnel worked on these tasks, covering an area of three hectares. This type of operation also serves as training for the participants. "There was a load of 40 tonnes per hectare, an enormous amount which, under forest fire conditions, would be practically impossible to extinguish".

 

To be able to carry out these treatments, a series of "prescribed weather conditions" must be met, said the director of Infoca in Málaga,"‘so that we have full control over the fire’s behaviour, ensuring that we do not damage the soil or the fauna, while eliminating the fuel load". In fact, he stressed that "it took us quite some time to find the right moment to carry out the burn" and explained that "a burn plan is draw up with a prescription window, and one of the limitations was the wind direction, because if it came from the north or west, it would fill the entire residential development with smoke, and we didn’t want to cause any inconvenience or alarm".

In the case of Mijas, the area was chosen following a technical risk assessment. "We have a lot of experience in this area, because Mijas is a fairly complex municipality and the one with the most forest fires in the province. We know this area very well. We have come here several times to extinguish fires and, as it concerned us, after the change in regulations, we started looking for areas suitable for burning, and that’s why we selected this one".

 

Finally, it should be noted that this operation, promoted by the Infoca Provincial Operations Centre in Málaga, forms part of the collaboration between the device and the Mijas Town Hall for the implementation of prescribed burns in urban-forest interface areas.

Assesment by the Junta de Andalucía 

The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, reviewed the end of the fire season in the region at the Forest Defence Centre (Cedefo) in Madroñalejo, Aznalcóllar (Seville), one of the 23 such centres operating in Andalusia, during the meeting of the Regional Advisory Committee of the Infoca Plan. He highlighted that the "rapid and effective response" of the Infoca operation had ensured that 80% of the fires recorded over recent months were contained at the initial stage, despite adverse factors such as the extremely high temperatures recorded this summer, including two prolonged and severe heatwaves.

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