They were celebrating with jokes that could have turned costly. Four residents of Beneixama, each around thirty, were identified by the Civil Guard in connection with an incendiary device found in the only area of the Sierra de La Solana that had survived last summer’s bushfire. The pyrotechnic mechanism was discovered by a hiker at the end of July, and just days ago investigators named the four alleged perpetrators.
The Civil Guard conducted interviews with all involved, and one person described as a perpetrator admitted to tampering with pyrotechnic material by inserting gunpowder from one firework into another to boost its power. As the investigation continues, other town residents may be called to testify in the coming days.
Talaeta
It was a Beneixama resident wandering through the La Talaeta area on a Saturday morning who found the box in direct sun, beside dry brush and a pine forest, as this report noted on July 28. After notifying local police, a patrol arrived at the scene and awaited the Villena Civil Guard so experts from the Alicante Command could inspect the makeshift device. Inside a plastic fast-food container lay a pack of cigarettes and, among other components, a powerful firecracker with a wick secured by a plastic strap, delicate paper, and a small electric trigger.
The officials who collected the device got the impression that it had been placed recently and that the owner or authors knew the area well. It stood at the roadside near the San Isidro monastery and a sanctuary, about five hundred meters from a stretch of land already scorched by fire and roughly three kilometers from the nearby town.
Following the discovery, Beneixama mayor Vicente Ibáñez commented that it could be a childish prank or an ill advised joke since the box sits on a road frequently used by hikers and near the San Isidro hermitage. He added that the notion that these individuals intended to start a wildfire at the mountain site was not supported by the current findings. The group reportedly acted for amusement, joking about how the real arsonist might ignite the landscape.
In 2019, a fire in the Sierra de Beneixama burned a vast area.
On July 15, 2019, a blaze swept through the Sierra de Beneixama, destroying 862 hectares of forest and farmland. The fire was ruled deliberate after a Seprona investigation. In the days prior, four other suspicious fire attempts had been recorded in nearby Biar. Authorities continue to explore every lead, but so far no criminal charges have been filed on those investigative avenues. (Civil Guard report)