Forest fires - what causes
them ?
An
article in a recent Las
Provincias, reports that of the
around 100 wildfires occurring in
the Comunidad between January
to June, 55 were considered to
have been started deliberately,
and 38 due to negligence.
Investigations had led to arrests
in only four cases.
As one policeman noted: It’s easier
to clarify a homicide than a fire.
Over the last 15 years, 174
fires have
been ascribed to
pyromaniacs.
Other deliberately started fires
are ascribed to farmers clearing
land and stubble and pastoralists
burning to regenerate pasture.
However, an article in El Pais
in English describes how the
border area between Castellon
and Aragón is a hot spot for fires
started by lightning.
As a whole, lightning only causes
around 5% of the fires in Spain.
But in Valencia and Aragón it
causes around 25% of fires.
For this reason, firefighters in
Valencia have become a reference
point in the fight against these
kinds of forest fires, of which there
are two different kinds.
For example, lightning can split a
tree in half and instantly trigger a
fire. Or, it can generate a slow and
subterranean combustion, which
remains hidden for a couple of
days until finally showing up as a
highly destructive forest fire.