Police in Ontinyent, Valencia, have detained a fireman on suspicion of involvement in starting the forest fires in the Vall d’Albaida district.
Local residents and the social network Facebook played a crucial role in the identification and arrest of the suspect by providing information about a white Suzuki Vitara with one broken headlight which had been seen in the vicinity of the fire.
The detainee has been on sick leave since 2009. The fires in Valencia have so far destroyed 2,500 hectares of land and necessitated the evacuation of over 1,000 people from their homes.