Palma.A forest fire which broke out yesterday morning at Puig des Tresor in Arta is now under control, firemen reported late in the afternoon, but not before it had destroyed 30 hectares of pine forest.
The blaze, which started around 10.30am forced police to close the MA-15 road between Manacor and Arta from the 58 to the 65 kilometre marks.
Emergency services however had categorised the risk of the fire to human life as 0, and confirmed that at no point was there any need to evacuate residential areas close by.
Around 60 firefighters worked all morning on putting out the fire, making use of special firefighting aircraft, and three water-carrying helicopters, two stationed on Majorca and the third brought over from Minorca.
The planes included a Canadair craft with its base in Pollensa and the regional Environment ministry was on standby to bring in a similar craft from the mainland should it have proved necessary.
But by 1pm yesterday, another call went out for the Emergency Services to rush to Paguera in Calvia where a fresh blaze was spreading extensively.
Paguera
The blaze was first spotted at around 1.03pm and in accordance with forest fire procedure, officers of the Balearic Nature Protection Institute (Ibanat) were alerted along with the Fire Service, Local Police, Guardia Civil, paramedic service SAMU, Civil Defence and Emergency Operations units. By 5.30pm yesterday afternoon, the fire had been brought under control but 20 hectares of pine forest in the area of Puig de Sa Bruta had been destroyed. The fire had at first thought to be a serious risk because of residential properties which might have been in its path, but the blaze was contained within a non-inhabited area. Four brigades from Ibanat worked to extinguish the blaze along with two hydroplanes, one of them brought over from the mainland.
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