The story of the Australian firefighter and the grandmother from Granollers who tried to stop the Almeria fire

The Gallardos / BédarJust by the smell of burning and the intensity and heat of the wind, Andrew knew they had a huge problem. He had been a firefighter all his life in Australia, in Perth, a territory that suffers fires similar to those in the Mediterranean climate. Now he enjoys retirement with his wife, Anna, in a small white house with a small swimming pool and a cozy terrace in Los Gallardos, in the province of Almeria. In fact, Andrew was one of the first people to notice the smell of smoke. He was working in his garden, about 150 meters from the point where the tragic fire started. "That fire had to be stopped, or at least prevented from reaching our houses," he recalls.

This is why, before the flames reached his house, he began to wet the ground with water and asked his neighbors to do the same. Andrew was worried because the wind that was coming was very hot. "It had perfect conditions," he specifies. But he relaxed a bit when he saw that this same wind wasn't quite blowing in the direction of his house. Nevertheless, they kept throwing water until, after about 20 minutes, the firefighters arrived and evacuated them. "Before leaving, we saved a small kitten, a few months old. We've named him Sock [sock]", explains Anna as the cat stretches at her feet.

They arrived in this municipality in Almeria two years ago, after a stay in Alicante that didn't quite suit them. She had always wanted a house in France, but it was too expensive and they stayed in Almeria because the landscape was similar. They are an example of the many foreign families in the area: retired couples who wanted a house between the sea and the mountains.

Two days before

On the other hand, Pepa was born at this point in Almeria and when she was eleven years old her family moved to Catalonia. She lives in Granollers and is retired. She arrived in Los Gallardos just two days before the fire. "It was going very fast, it was a matter of seconds," she recounts about the flames. Fortunately, the firebreaks worked and the wind pushed the fire in such a way that it only grazed her urbanization. The firefighters evacuated them a few minutes later and they couldn't return home until this Saturday night (the fire started on Thursday). They spent the nights at a relative's house, since at first they were transferred to the sports center in Garrucha, but she is diabetic and was not feeling entirely well. She regrets that the house remains without electricity.

Anna walks through the urbanization remembering the most critical points of the fire and reaches the house of some friends, who were just at the edge of the fire's path. They have a few chickens that they took away in boxes to save them. They had bought them just two days before. When she returns to her house, Anna and Andrew applaud. The lights are back on. For days, several technicians from electricity companies have been in the area trying to restore service, even though it is the starting point of the fire, which was caused precisely – according to the main hypothesis – by an electrical line.

This Saturday was the day some evacuees were able to return to their homes. This is the case of Pedro, who lives in a solitary house in the middle of the mountain, also within the municipality of Los Gallardos. The entire surroundings are black, scorched, except for his house, which remains white. Despite this, he has lost several chickens and his vegetable garden. "We saw the flames in the distance and ran away," he recalls.

The return to Bédar

In fact, this Saturday is also the day that the evacuees from Bédar, the most affected municipality where all the fatalities have been registered, will be able to return. According to Civil Guard sources, the main road has been reopened for residents since 4 p.m. Meanwhile, on Saturday, it was possible to reach Bédar by some secondary road. Right now it is a lonely village, only frequented by some neighbors who are killing time at the bar and who do not feel like talking. Directly, the bar is closed to journalists. The Civil Guard also resents the presence of all those who do not participate in the extinction operation, although there is no control or sign prohibiting passage on this alternative route to Bédar. Fortunately, the village has managed to survive the fire, with very few visible damages, but the scattered houses have fallen in the middle of the burnt territory.