mediterranean tortoises appear to be the main victims of the fire

Investigations show Es Milocar fire was started intentionally

investigators. Examining the remains in search of the cause of the fire

Experts have discovered two separate points of origin for last week´s blaze, close to the access road to Ets Alocs Bay, suggesting arson as the cause

christine m. watterson.Maó

Following investigations into the cause of the fire at Es Milocar, which at the final count destroyed 141.58 hectares of land and not the 147 originally reported, experts from the Balearic Department of the Environment have decided that the blaze was started deliberately.

According to the Director General of Biodivesity, Joana Xamena, the fire originated in two separate places very close to the access road to the bay of Ets Alocs. The head of IBANAT has stated that the experts investigating the origins of the fire have not found any signs suggesting the cause of the blaze but the study shows that it was started intentionally by human action. The investigation shows that the the fire began at 1230 hrs. on 1st August and the first call alerting the authorities was received at 1247 hrs. Joana Xamena has pointed out that the lack of evidence at the seat of the fire has made it difficult to determine who was responsible for starting the blaze.

A breakdown of the 141.58 hectares destroyed in the fire, shows that 135 hectares of forest were affected, 95.05 of scrubland and 4.24 of agricultural land belonging to the Alfuría de Dalt estate.

Estimates put the regeneration period for the vegetation at 10 years, i.e. from the year 2016.

Wildlife death toll

A group of volunteers and naturalists from the ecological group GOB inspected the area affected by the fire at Es Milocar de Binidelfà, helped by the French scientist Alain Veysset, a specialist in tortoises. Some 30 people were involved in the search which covered an area of 10 hectares in an attempt to determine which animals had been killed by the fire.

Whilst the corpses of many different types of rats and snakes were found, the species that would have appeared to have suffered the most was the Mediterranean tortoise (Testudo Hermanni) of which the group discovered 27 dead specimens and 3 still living.

According to the naturalists, although some plantlife had been burned by the fire it was still alive and would start the recovery process after the first rains.

GOB is to put forward proposals of actions to be taken to regenerate the area affected by the fire.