Barcelona Last August started with a strong fire between Portbou and Colera. A fire caused by “human activity” burned a total of 573 hectares between the two municipalities for about 24 hours, making it the most important fire of all of 2023 in Catalonia. Now, almost a year later, the Mossos d’Esquadra have arrested the alleged perpetrator: a volunteer firefighter who was assigned to the same Portbou park in 2019. Later, however, he was assigned to La Jonquera at his request.
According to journalist Anna Punsí and confirmed by ARA, the arrest took place this Monday and he was brought before the court on Tuesday. The alleged perpetrator is now at large awaiting trial. The Mossos would have been able to prove through the triangulation of the mobile phone that the volunteer firefighter was at the place where the fire started as soon as it started. In addition, different security cameras would have captured the man walking along the promenade of the municipality that same day. It should be clarified that the Riera d’Amunt is accessed from the Rambla de Portbou, the point from where the fire started. According to the Department of the Interior, the procedures have already begun to temporarily suspend him from his duties as a volunteer firefighter.
The arrested could have acted as an act of revolt: a couple of days before the fire, the volunteer firefighters of Girona decided to go on strike. These, who asked for an improvement in their working conditions, closed the parks and decided not to act during the fire in Portbou and Colera. This meant that none of the volunteer fire stations in the entire demarcation cooperated with the extinguishing of the fire. If it was done by volunteer agents from other parts of the country.
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2024-07-24 10:57:05
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