Infoca declares the Mijas wildfire 'extinguished'

At 1pm this Tuesday (14 November), the Junta de Andalucía's specialist forest fire brigade, Plan Infoca, declared the wildfire in the Paraje de Valtocado in Mijas "extinguished". The blaze, which started in the early hours of Sunday morning, forced the precautionary evacuation of about 300 local residents from their homes. A total of 250 hectares of land have been scorched and one property totally destroyed - along with a few others partially affected, but most importantly there were no personal injuries, despite the fire being considered "very dangerous" and rated Level 1 by the authorities due to its proximity to homes.

A total of six aircraft, 180 professionals and eight fire engines from Plan Infoca, as well as regular fire crews from Mijas, Benalmádena, Marbella, Fuengirola and Malaga, were on the scene at the height of the incident.

"The arduous battle against the flames in Mijas has come to an end. I would like to thank all the operatives involved in the firefighting and civil protection tasks for their efforts. It is clear that Plan Infoca is the sum of everyone's efforts," said the Andalusian regional Minister of the Presidency, Antonio Sanz, on his social media networks.

In addition to the scorched land, the fire caused some material damage. A house in Camino de Valtocado was completely burnt and others in the area partially affected. As for the cause of the fire, the residents of Valtocado point directly to the electrical transformer in the area as the location where the fire started, but both the Minister of the Presidency and the mayor of Mijas, Ana Mata, have called for "caution", while awaiting the outcome of the investigation.