Axarquía wildfire causes around two million euros of damage to crops

The wildfire that broke out on Friday 17 July between Árchez, Canillas de Albaida and Cómpeta in the Axarquía area of Malaga province not only caused hours of tension, evacuations and a large-scale emergency response, but also left a deep scar on the countryside.

The mayor of Cómpeta, Rosaluz Fernández, announced on Monday 20 July that, following an initial assessment of the damage to the more than 50 agricultural holdings affected by the fire, losses now stand at around two million euros, with some 10,000 trees burnt to the ground – mainly avocado and olive trees as well as vines. The fire also caused serious damage to the irrigation networks. However, fortunately no personal injuries were reported.

Fernández explained that the fire had hit around 50 subtropical plantations, vineyards and olive groves, in an area where many plots form part of communities of growers. The mayor explained that not only have trees and crops been lost, but also pipes, conduits and irrigation equipment, which must now be replaced urgently in order to resume agricultural and livestock activity in the area.

The mayor said that the town hall will be meeting with those affected this week to assess the extent of the damage more precisely and begin preparing a request for financial assistance from other authorities. The town hall’s intention is to gather as much information as possible on the losses suffered by farms in order to submit a joint request for financial support to the other authorities, given that the restoration of the land and agricultural infrastructure is essential to prevent the losses from becoming even greater in the summer heat.

The fire, which broke out alongside the road and near the Árchez recycling centre and which was declared extinguished at 2pm on Monday, led to the activation on Friday of Operational Level One of the emergency plan for fire risk and the deployment of a large-scale fire-fighting operation. The flames spread rapidly towards Cómpeta and Canillas de Albaida, through an area of scrubland and farmland that is difficult to access and dotted with hundreds of homes, which complicated both the work of ground-based firefighting teams and the evacuation efforts.

Fernández has recognised the joint efforts of local residents, the emergency services and the authorities during the most critical hours. She thanked Infoca, the fire service, the Local Police and the Guardia Civil for their work, and also praised the response of residents, who in many cases helped by bringing water tanks and hoses to protect their own homes and those of their neighbours when the flames approached the area around the San Antón chapel, amonmg others.

The fire led to the precautionary evacuation of 162 people from homes scattered across the municipalities of Árchez, Cómpeta and Canillas de Albaida, while some 4,400 residents of Cómpeta were told to remain in their homes for several hours.

All those evacuated were able to return to their homes over the weekend. The lockdown was lifted at 8.50pm and the fire was brought under control in the early hours of Sunday morning. However, the damage to the area has been significant, particularly to agricultural land and rural homes.

Cómpeta town hall now wishes to turn the emergency into a coordinated response so that recovery does not depend solely on the efforts of landowners. The mayor has said that the irrigation associations will have to make an urgent investment to replace the pipelines and get the irrigation system up and running again – a task that is essential if the farms are to become productive once more as soon as possible.

Furthermore, the affected area has a complex terrain and a highly fragmented agricultural landscape, with small plots and numerous rural tracks that hinder access and the work of the teams. This combination of woodland, scattered houses and crops means that any fire has a highly uneven impact, but is particularly severe on family-run farms that depend on every tree and every harvest to make a living. The fire damaged the irrigation systems, and some of these had to be used to help extinguish the blaze.

The mayor has issued an appeal in light of the high risk of forest fires during the height of the heatwave. “We ask that you exercise the utmost caution, that you please clear your plots, that you keep your fields clean – a clean field prevents the fire from spreading – so let’s all raise our awareness and do our bit,” she said.

As yet there has been no official report on the area affected or the cause of the fire, which broke out near the Árchez recycling centre. However, initial estimates suggest the affected area is around 15 hectares.