A fire broke out yesterday, Tuesday 1st September, in the village of Torrellano at a vehicle storage lot situated near the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport and the commuter rail station. The blaze, caused by an engine failure, resulted in seven vehicles being completely destroyed and two others suffering minor damage. Local residents reported hearing explosions from the fire, once again highlighting the risks associated with these types of businesses and criticising the accumulation of so many cars in rural areas.
The fire started shortly after 2 p.m. in one of the vehicles and subsequently spread to those parked nearby. Local residents, who captured the scene on their mobile phones, reported that several explosions were heard as the vehicles were engulfed in flames, leaving a row of cars completely destroyed on the lot.
The fire generated a large plume of black smoke that could be seen from various points in the village, alarming the local population. Due to the sheer volume of smoke, it initially appeared that the fire was coming from the town centre rather than the surrounding rural area. Workers at the farm tried to contain the flames using the facility’s fire extinguishers, but the rapid spread rendered these first attempts insufficient.
Four fire crews from the Elche fire station, alongside the Santa Pola station with three fire engines and a command vehicle, were dispatched to the scene. The firefighters worked for nearly an hour to extinguish the blaze, which was declared over around 3:30 p.m. Local Police and National Police patrols also assisted at the scene. The fire originated in the workshop area of the vehicle depot, a space where vehicles with some type of breakdown or damage are stored, according to company officials. The Provincial Fire Consortium has not yet determined the cause, but a possible engine failure in one of the cars is considered a leading hypothesis.
The manager of the car lot, María Gallego, pointed to a possible mechanical problem with one of the cars, explaining that the vehicle had previously sustained damage and the fire started when they tried to start it. “When they tried to start it, it wouldn’t start and the engine burnt out; that’s when the fire started,” she stated.
This version suggests the fire originated from a possible malfunction of the vehicle itself, rather than from combustion directly related to high temperatures, although this will need to be determined once the cause of the fire is clarified. The manager stated that in a decade working at the facility, she had never witnessed an incident of this nature. The fire was finally extinguished by firefighters, and thankfully, no injuries were reported.
The manager also confirmed that the fire started precisely in the area designated for the workshop. The storage lot has been operating for around two decades and is part of the businesses located near the airport where numerous vehicles are stored, including rental cars that can later be sold to individuals or dealerships.
At the site, the Local Police requested documentation from those in charge regarding the business and the facilities to verify their legal status. According to information gathered at the location, those in charge had a valid rental agreement. However, the current managers stated that they had only taken over the business a few months prior and that some of the documentation had been handled previously by other colleagues. This was to justify their need to locate more paperwork requested by the municipal police, especially given the City Council’s recent increased scrutiny of open-air markets, which has already resulted in the closure of some for operating illegally.
The Torrellano residents’ association, Vial, regrets the accident and took the opportunity to denounce the risk suffered by the residents, who have country houses and swimming pools next to these businesses which they call “illegal”, warning of the danger even to air traffic.
The Alicante-Elche Airport Road Association immediately expressed its regret over the “dangerous” nature of the incident. Its president, Juan José Mateo Rocamora, highlighted the risk he has been warning about for some time and demanded more decisive action from the City Council regarding these facilities. Mateo believes that the high concentration of cars on some plots, in some cases practically adjacent to homes, the town of Torrellano itself, and the airport, could have far more serious consequences if a fire were to spread to a larger area or if the response were slower.
The presence of fuel and other vehicle components in the fire caused several explosions during the blaze, according to testimonies gathered by the residents’ association. Mateo Rocamora explained that some residents heard loud explosions even before they knew what was happening, causing fear among families at home and children swimming in nearby pools.
The group is particularly focused on the proximity between certain open fields and residential areas, asserting that there are houses directly across from the affected plot. “If instead of nine cars there were 900, the entire village could have gone up in flames,” warns Mateo Rocamora, who believes the incident should prompt a review of the legality of the location and safety conditions of these types of businesses. He maintains that while car rental and parking businesses provide essential economic activity in the airport area, they must be regulated and relocated to suitable spaces far enough away from residential areas.
The association is also concerned about the safety and operational capacity of Alicante-Elche Airport, fearing that a large plume of smoke could disrupt airport operations and potentially force the cancellation of takeoffs or the diversion of flights bound for Alicante-Elche to other airports if it were to compromise safety.
Mateo Rocamora points out that the proximity of large concentrations of cars represents a risk factor that should be taken into account not only from the neighbourhood’s point of view but also because of its possible impact on an infrastructure through which millions of passengers pass each year. He demands equally stringent safety standards as those applied to other installations near populated areas.
The residents’ association maintains that it has been denouncing the proliferation of these establishments for years through its social media channels and to the authorities, demanding clarification on the permits for each of the activities taking place on farmland in the area.
While the residents’ association acknowledges that the municipal government has begun taking steps to close fields it considers illegal, Mateo Rocamora considers the pace of intervention insufficient. The association is therefore demanding that the City Council intensify inspections and check the licences, land uses and safety measures of the facilities dedicated to the parking or accumulation of vehicles throughout the airport and Torrellano area.
