Fire in the Parque de Los Pedregales

A forest fire in the Parque de Los Pedregales continues to burn as firefighters are being hampered by gusting winds of up to 40 kph.

The fire began at around 14:00 on Wednesday afternoon and the towns of Estepona and Caseres remain on alert. Helicopters and water bombers have resumed operations this morning.

The gusting winds yesterday assisted the spread of the fire through the mountainous area towards Casares and firefighters were also not helped by the ruggedness of the terrain.

The firefighters prevented the fire from reaching the industrial area of Casares and efforts are now focused on preventing it spreading to Sierra Bermeja and Monte del Duque areas near Casares, the site of forests of oak and cork trees.

The archaelogical site at Corominas, a 5,000 year old burial ground, was threatened by the flames but, although the fire surrounded the area, there was no damage reported to the site itself.

The authorities are not ruling out the possibility that the fire was started deliberately.

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