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ARCHIVED - Reforestation company in Spain causes forest fire
The company, which plants trees in the wake of wildfires, was accused of starting another fire in Spain last month
As dozens of wildfires burn across Spain in the most destructive year for forest fires ever, one international reforestation company has inadvertently been the cause of one of the fires whose calamitous effects it aims to counteract.
Land Life, a Netherlands-based company with offices in Spain and the US, said it is “devastated” after one of its contractors accidentally caused a massive fire Ateca in the northeastern region of Aragón.
The fire started when a spark escaped from an excavator that was being used by one of Land Life’s contractors to prepare the soil for tree planting in the winter.
The fire was finally brought under control on Thursday July 21, but not before it damaged 14,000 hectares of land and forced 1,700 people to be evacuated from their homes in the surrounding area.
The company alerted emergency services straightaway, but “profoundly regretted” the incident.
“We are devastated by the latest estimate that the damage will be around 14,000 hectares,” Land Life said. “We sympathise deeply with the feelings of the local community who had to be evacuated from their homes and see their landscape severely damaged.”
Many forest fires in Spain are started each year by stray cigarette butts and intentionally by arsonists, sometimes for financial gain as traditionally burnt-out forestland in Spain can be repurposed for farming land. Specialist police carry out scores of investigations to pinpoint the cause of each fire.
However, in this case Land Life immediately came forward after starting the Ateca fire, and has said that it will help authorities with their investigation: “We will continue to follow up on anything we can do in this situation.”
They added, “We want to emphasise that the contractor, a local company with extensive experience in the area, had the appropriate authorisation issued by the local and regional authorities.”
But according to Spanish media, Land Life was accused of causing another fire in Aragón last month that burned through 20 hectares of land.
The mayor of one of the evacuated villages, Bubierca, stated, “It’s not right that they should carry on working when this has already happened once.”
This week, the risk of forest fires remains extreme in much of Spain, but rain in Aragón, Catalonia and other parts of the northwest will reduce this risk.
Image: Archive
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