The Mayor of Calasparra, Jose Velez, has appealed to members of the public to help identify an arsonist following a fire in the El Bayo area of Calasparra on Saturday.
He has called on anyone who saw stranger in the area of the fire to inform the emergency services.
According to the Mayor the alarm was raised by witnesses passing through the area who saw the flames. This was crucial in that the emergency services were able to prevent the fire spreading to a densely wooded area.
Fire fighters from Caravaca and Calasparra attended the scene with environmental officers, the civil protection, local police and the Guardia Civil.
The fire was extinguished quickly but fire fighters remained at the scene during the night to damp down the area.
Calasparra is an area that has suffered the most forest fires during the last few years, some of which, like the fire on the Sierra del Molino, were extremely extensive.
