Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police, and Agents Rurals, the regional rural and forest protection service, arrested a 58-year-old man on Monday 27 July over three alleged forest fires in Carme, Anoia.
The man has been remanded in custody without bail on suspicion of a forest-fire offence, according to the remand order reported by Regió7. The most serious fire, on 6 July, burned 455 hectares of woodland and farmland, damaged three businesses and homes, and led to 33,000 people in seven municipalities being told to remain indoors.
For residents of Carme, La Pobla de Claramunt, Castellolí and nearby towns, the investigation concerns the fire that also affected industrial premises at the Plans d'Arau industrial estate and homes in La Pobla de Claramunt.
Investigation focuses on BV-2131 roadside
Agents Rurals placed the origin of the 6 July fire on the verge of the BV-2131 road at 4.25pm. Investigators found partly burned cardboard fragments from a beer-can pack at the point where the fire began, Regió7 reported.
A technical report by Agents Rurals concluded that the fire was started by an external heat source of human and deliberate origin, according to the remand order.
"The fire was caused by an external heat source of human and deliberate origin," the Agents Rurals forensic report concluded, according to the remand order.
The order also cites the observation of a red AIXAM vehicle registered to the suspect at the precise point of origin immediately before the fire appeared.
Witness accounts cited separately from forensic findings
The remand order says witnesses linked that vehicle to the suspect and said they had seen him throw burning objects on earlier occasions. Those are witness accounts cited in the court document, rather than findings of the fire-origin analysis.
Police found 27 lighters in the man's car. He denied starting any fire before the judge, saying he uses the Carme road twice a day and that he smokes, which he said explained the lighters, Regió7 reported.
The investigation also covers a fire on 29 June in Carme, according to ElNacional.cat. The man has no recorded previous convictions, Regió7 reported.
Reported by Source Text Link, Marc Pascual Garsaball, Pau Brunet, Maria Pentinat, Eduard Font Badia, Guillem RS, Germán González, Sergio Pérez, ACN, La Veu de l'Anoia, Andrea Izquierdo, Mari Latorre, vilaweb.cat, El Periódico (CA).
