Last night we were aware of a lot of 'muck' appearing on the lounge floor - and I blamed the dogs for bringing it in. However, it appears they were not the cause, it was actually ash from a forest fire some 30 minutes away over Cabrera, thought to have been caused by a lightening strike. People have been evacuated and homes have been burnt, although I don't know how badly. This is near to the popular towns of Mojacar and Turre, and hopefully there have been no injuries. A massive fire-fighting force was in use and this morning the fire is mostly out.
The following is taken from: http://www.davidjackson.info/
Infoca, the forest fire people, say that the probable cause of the fire was a lightening strike from the storms we had yesterday.
While Almeria city and Albox suffered intermittent showers throughout the day, the Levante just had a dry thunderstorm, steady winds and temperatures of up to 40ºC.
Canal Sur says that 300 houses in the mountains have been evacuated so far.
The fire started in Cerro de la Mezquita and has spread rapidly. 53 fire units have been assigned so far, as well as two amphibian aircraft, three normal planes, an overall command plane, four helicopters and two large capacity helicopters.
The main bulk of the fire is out, although it is still burning away up in the mountains.
The Guardia are still not letting anyone up into Cortijo Grande, although the Turre – Los Gallardos road has reopened.
Over 2,000 heactacres (20 square km) was burnt, according to media reports. It has been confirmed by an eyewitness that Finca Listonero was burnt, along with a number of cortijos close by. El Almeria newspaper says that around 20 cortijos were destroyed.
The flames did come down very close to Turre, and several fire breaks were made by the army just outside the town.
The fire reached a level 2, and a battalion of troops (around 120) were deployed to the area overnight to protect Turre and Mojacar, along with heavy earth moving equipment.
While the troops have been stood down, local media report that aerial units are still trying to extinguish the fires blazing up in the mountains
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When we lived in Cyprus there were many incidents of forest fires. Not sure about lightning but certainly the sun bouncing off broken glass didn't help. As kids we'd start fires with mirrors using the sun, though just with a bit of paper, of course, nothing more. (Learn lots as a Brownie).
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