About 1,000 people were evacuated as a precaution because of a wildfire affecting urban and wooded areas, declared on Thursday afternoon in Benahavís, Málaga province, according to the 1-1-2 emergency service, part of the Andalusia Emergency Agency. Those evacuated were residents of Parque Botánico and the first row of homes in Los Flamingos, including the Four Seasons apartments. The area comprises about 400 homes.
The town’s sports centre was opened to assist evacuees who needed accommodation, and the Red Cross provided around 50 beds. By the time of the report, about 10 residents had used them; most had arranged to stay with relatives or friends, or at hotels in the area.
Málaga Government Delegate Patricia Navarro monitored the emergency from the Advanced Command Post set up by the Andalusia Emergency Group at Llano de La Ermita. A total of 235 personnel from the different response teams were working in the area. The Infoca wildfire service had 129 ground personnel and 10 fire engines deployed overnight.
The AP-7, which had been closed between kilometres 1054 and 1070 in the direction of Cádiz, had reopened to traffic.
### Nearly 300 calls to 1-1-2
The 1-1-2 emergency coordination centre handled nearly 300 calls about the fire. The first calls, at around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, reported a fire that had started on the shoulder of the AP-7 near kilometre 1068 and spread into woodland near the Montemayor residential area.
The centre alerted Infoca’s Provincial Operations Centre, the Andalusia Emergency Group, Málaga Provincial Council’s fire service and Marbella’s municipal firefighters, as well as the Guardia Civil, local police in Estepona and Benahavís, the National Police and its regional unit, road maintenance services, the Red Cross, the 061 Emergency Health Centre and Civil Protection volunteer groups from Marbella and Estepona. A primary care emergency unit from San Pedro de Alcántara was also mobilised.
At 5:30 p.m., Regional Minister for the Presidency, Health and Emergencies Antonio Sanz, as director of Andalusia’s forest fire emergency plan, raised the plan to emergency phase, operational situation 1. The fire had initially been reported in Estepona but was later located in Benahavís. This operational level applies to fires that can be controlled with the Junta de Andalucía’s ordinary resources but require activation because of their scale, the resources needed, or the need to protect the public.
The Andalusia Emergency Agency urged people to take care, follow emergency responders’ instructions and stay away from the fire area to avoid unnecessary risks.