The Mossos d’Esquadra have arrested a 53-year-old man as the alleged perpetrator of a serious negligence forest fire crime for the fire in Castellví de la Marca (Barcelona) on August 12 (the afternoon of the solar eclipse), where they found his vehicle completely burned. The investigation by the police and the Rural Agents corps has concluded that this man’s vehicle, which was found completely burned in a wooded area near the forest track leading to the Castellot area, where the fire started, was the cause of the fire, according to the Mossos in a statement. After finding the car, the agents shortly after located its owner walking along the shoulder of a road.
The regional police explained that after the fire started, the rural agents were alerted by a person who had seen a vehicle with a single occupant traveling at high speed on a forest track towards the Castellot area, prompting them to begin searching as the first hypothesis about the fire’s origin. Once in the area, they found a white vehicle on fire, matching the description provided by the witness. The car was almost completely burned, but the license plate was only partially burned, which allowed identification of its owner.
Subsequently, they found a man walking on one of the roads near the area where the fire started. His account of the events contained contradictions. As a result, the man was taken to police facilities, where he was identified and summoned to appear before investigators to testify about the events. Meanwhile, the rural agents deployed personnel on the ground to determine the origin and cause of this forest fire, whose investigation was crucial in arresting this man as the alleged perpetrator of the fire due to serious negligence.
The Castellví de la Marca fire affected an area of 9.46 hectares, included in the Plan of Natural Interest Spaces (PEIN) El Montmell-Marmellar.
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