Prevent Forest Fires

Forest fires can have a serious impact on our natural spaces, wildlife, businesses and houses. Too often they are caused by careless behaviour. High temperatures, little rain and an abundance of dry vegetation, especially over the summer months, pose an extreme risk of fire.

What you can do

• Advise family and friends visiting the islands of the high risk of forest fires and basic precautions.
• The majority of fires are started by discarded cigarette butts or badly tended small fires. Extinguish cigarettes completely and never throw butts out of the car window.
• Fires in forest and mountain areas or agricultural land within 500 metres of forests are banned from May to October.
• Get permission to clear forested areas around your house. Call Agentes Medio Ambientales  (AMAs) on  971 176 677. They will carry out a free assessment of your property and provide you with the necessary permissions.
• If you see a fire, call 112 immediately and give them detailed instructions of its location.
• If you are a land owner, fire prevention regulations state you must clear 30 metres of land around your house and 10 metres on either side of your access way (‘camino’). The cleared land and ‘camino’ create a fire break, protect your property and give you a clear escape route in case of emergency.
• Read the Forest Fire Prevention Guide. Complete the questionnaire to evaluate your property’s forest fire risk level.

There are several local companies who can help to clear land, including:

• Ingenia Ambient & Natura. Depending on the size of your property, they will carry out the work at no cost to the landowner. Ingenia can take care of permissions and paperwork, and they also chip the wood to use as a sustainable biomass fuel for boilers.
• Eivinatura (David Gamero, 727 725 712).
• Trabajos Forestales Pitiusos (Raúl Acebes, 666 467 595).
• Antoni Bonet Domínguez (645 83 94 97).

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