Fire next to school in Dénia: residents evacuated, man with three lighters arrested

A thick black column of smoke above Dénia could be seen from kilometres away on Saturday afternoon. On a vacant lot right next to the IES Maria Ibars secondary school, bone dry scrubland caught fire, prompting the precautionary evacuation of nearby homes. Firefighters turned out in force, with a helicopter overhead, and had the fire stabilised within an hour and a half. Police arrested a man near the flames carrying three lighters.

What happened on Saturday afternoon

The alarm came in at 1:29 pm: fire on an undeveloped plot at the edge of Avenida de Andalucía, wedged between residential blocks, a full car park and the grounds of the IES Maria Ibars. The plot was covered in dry scrub and low wood, which explains how quickly the flames spread. The black smoke column it produced was visible far beyond the town. One mercy in the timing: on a Saturday there are no pupils at school.

Major turnout, quickly under control

The provincial fire service went in heavy: crews from Dénia, Benissa and Oliva arrived with fourteen firefighters, a command unit, a heavy water pump and two engines, while a firefighting helicopter attacked the blaze from the air. Homes directly beside the plot were evacuated as a precaution; police later confirmed that 230 residents had to leave their homes. The tightly parked cars next to the plot were briefly at risk too. At 2:49 pm, just over an hour after the alarm, the fire was under control. Nobody was hurt and residents could return home.

Arrest in the dunes: man with three lighters

While firefighters were still at work, officers of the Policía Local combed the surrounding area. The suspect was eventually found not by the fire but in the Tamarindos dunes at El Raset beach, where according to police he tried to pass himself off as a beachgoer. On arrest he was carrying three lighters and other objects that may be linked to how the blaze started. According to Spanish media he is an adult with previous records.

Update 7 September: according to police it did not stop at this one fire. The arrested man is also suspected of starting fires on several other plots in town. The investigation is ongoing and the final word rests with the courts. For the neighbours, what counts most is that the scare was bigger than the damage.

About the authorLeonie

Leonie lives on the Costa Blanca. She writes about daily life on the coast: the markets, the walks and everything you only discover once you actually live here.