Helicopter rescues hikers

THE 112 services of the Generalitat Valenciana confirmed just after 3pm on Sunday, April 2, that a forest fire had been declared near the Valencian town of Barx.

Due to the proximity of the fire to forested areas that could affect the local population, Situation 1 of the PEIF was established. Three units were initially deployed by the Generalitat, but within 30 minutes, 112 had to redouble its efforts in the La Safor region, tripling the dispatched resources.

In addition to dealing with extinguishing the fire, the Generalitat per­

JOSE LUIS CALAMA , the judge of Audiencia Nacional, on Monday, April 3, sent Jose Luis Huertas, known as ‘Alcasec’, to provisional prison. The young hacker was suspected of hacking into the Neutral Point last October where information from all the courts in Spain is kept. He allegedly accessed the bank details of 575,186 taxpayers.

Huertas was arrested by the police last weekend and sonnel had to rescue seven people by helicopter. These included six hikers who were walking at the top of Mon­ duver at the time the forest fire was declared. A fire prevention officer was also among those evacuated.

By 4pm, the magnitude of the blaze was such that the column of smoke was visible from the city of Valencia. As a result, 112 announced a new increase in the resources being sent to tackle the outbreak.

Another forest fire was declared on the same day near the Costa Blanca town of Altea, although it was quickly dealt with and extinguished. Firefighting personnel were also deployed to deal with a fire that broke out close to the Sierra Calderona, in Estivella.