SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The National Police have arrested a 50-year-old man, with a police record for similar acts, as the alleged perpetrator of the Los Realejos forest fire that calcined more than five hectares of surface. The detainee, after being heard in a statement at police stations, was placed at the disposal of the competent judicial authority, which ordered his entry into preventive detention.
On July 14, a fire broke out in the area of the Los Dornajos ravine, in the Icod Alto neighborhood, in Los Realejos. The fire affected an animal farm and could finally be controlled thanks to a large device mobilized by the Cabildo de Tenerife. Once extinguished, it was verified that the flames had affected more than five hectares of surface.
The Judicial Police officers from the Puerto de la Cruz and Los Realejos National Police Stations went to the scene of the fire from the outset to carry out the corresponding visual inspection, interview the neighbors and locate possible witnesses.
Through the procedures carried out, they were able to place a man in such a situation of temporal immediacy with the origin and time of the start of the fire that pointed to his presumed authorship of it. This person had already been the subject of an investigation since 2022 due to his deep knowledge of the forest environment, his knowledge regarding extinction work and a history of similar events that occurred in 2007.
In surveillance carried out, the investigators observed the suspect contemplating the flames from the roof of a building, wearing the clothing with which he had been identified at the source of the fire.
Given all the existing evidence, the National Police arrested the alleged perpetrator of the events in the municipality of Los Realejos and, with the corresponding judicial authorization, proceeded to enter and search his home. In the house, the investigators seized the clothes that he was allegedly wearing at the time of committing the acts, 25 lighters, 25 candles, 113 pieces of rolled paper that looked like a wick, two cans of ethyl alcohol and a mobile phone.
The National Police, during the investigation that has led to the arrest of the alleged perpetrator of the events, has had the collaboration of personnel from the City Council of Los Realejos, Cabildo de Tenerife and the Civil Guard, through the collaboration provided by BRIFOR, environmental agents, Local Police and SEPRONA.
However, the National Police is especially grateful for the collaboration of citizens, who selflessly contribute, ultimately, to making it possible for crimes of this nature to be clarified.
