Four Britons have died in the disaster on the Costa Almeria, while a further 23 people are still missing, as local officials warned the death toll could rise
British expats last night told how they cheated death in the face of raging Spanish wildfires that have claimed at least a dozen lives.
Four Britons have died in the disaster on the Costa Almeria, while a further 23 people are still missing. And as local officials warned the death toll could rise, the likes of former West Yorkshire firefighter Richard Walker have spoken of their escape.
Richard, who was at his home near Bedar when the blaze took hold, said: “It was horrendous. People were caught out by the speed it spread. I worked as a fireman for 15 years and I’ve been to moorland fires, but I’ve never seen anything this ferocious.
“I was on the top terrace and I could see smoke. Then a friend called, an expat astronomer, who told me there was a fire and the wind was blowing it in the direction of Bedar. He said keep your eye on it. I told my girlfriend to pack a small bag because we were getting out.”
Richard told how he went to his neighbours’ property where two teenage girls were staying. He said: “We know their parents so I went round and told them, ‘Get off the TikTok and get off the mountain’. We all got in the car and you could already see the flames advancing.
Scorched
“If we’d left it 10 minutes, the road would’ve been impassible. I believe some people may have perished there. The flames were raging. You could see down the valley the smoke was getting thicker and thicker. My friend drove down after me. I think he may have been the last car out. He said the fire was on both sides of the road. He said it was like Evel Knievel driving through the flaming wall.”
Richard added: “We’ve been in a hotel for three nights now. My neighbour sent a video. His house is fine so ours should be OK too.”
Jackie Handscombe, originally from Thirsk, North Yorks, has lived near Bedar for 10 years and escaped with her partner Simon Farmiloe.
She said: “On Thursday evening, I just saw smoke and thought, ‘This doesn’t look good’. I took the dog for a walk, started preparing dinner and put the tennis on. Then I checked again and just thought, ‘Oh s***’.
“I rang my neighbour and said, ‘We need to get out, quick’. It was like a red wall of flames, it was frightening. It looked angry. I just wanted to get out. Everything is scorched. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The Guardia Civil has blocked off all access to the mountain areas where the fire raged, with holidaymakers and homeowners told to get out. And a fleet of heavy lift helicopters were yesterday continuing to dump water on the areas where the fires were still smouldering.
Paul Thompson, from Sussex, fled his holiday villa on Thursday night.
He said: “We managed to get out. We decided to leave when we saw the flames, we had to leave everything behind. All we’ve got is the clothes we’re wearing. We don’t know what’s happened to the villa, the neighbouring one was gutted. We’re hoping ours is all right.
“We’ve been given no indication when we might be able to go back. There were two fires on Thursday, a smaller on as we looked to the right and then the much larger one. We were watching it for an hour getting closer and then we said we had to get going when we saw flames coming over the ridge.”
Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s health and emergencies minister, said yesterday that the fire had burned across 6,600 hectares (16,300 acres) of land in the area. The cause of the widespread devastation has been put down to a fallen power line, but local electricity companies have denied this.
No additional information has been given about the four people who were found dead in a burnt-out car. Mr Sanz said previously they are believed to be “of British origin” and that the car had a steering wheel on the right. He also said weather conditions had improved overnight, “allowing us to face the day with better prospects than yesterday”.
He added: “This is the first day we will be able to mount a direct attack on the fire. Until now, weather conditions and the behaviour of the blaze only allowed us to work defensively.”
Mr Sanz said the rapid fire had been complex to tackle and the majority or even all of the victims may have been foreign nationals.
