Squatter arrested after setting fire to a house in Alicante

A 64-year-old man has been arrested by the National Police in Alicante for his purported involvement in a fire that broke out on the fifth floor of a building situated in the northern region of the city. The individual arrested was residing at the residence illegally, without paying rent, and had a prior record of other offences.

Despite the prompt evacuation of the building, two individuals required treatment for smoke inhalation. According to a statement from the Superior Police Headquarters, both individuals were discharged from the hospital on the same day. The statement also acknowledged that the material damage was “substantial,” although it has not yet been evaluated.

The National Police Provincial Citizen Security Brigade’s on-duty alerts detected a fire on the fifth floor of a building in the northern part of Alicante at approximately 3:30 p.m. on April 29th. A security cordon was promptly erected around the building’s perimeter, allowing firefighters, the Alicante Local Police, and medical assistance to remain inside.

The Emergency Services and Local Police evacuated the entire afflicted building during the intervention, establishing a secure area where residents were provided with assistance by the emergency services.

The National Police endeavoured to identify the proprietor of the apartment from which the fire originated. He stated that a man had resided in the house for an extended period of time, had ceased to pay rent, and had continued to inhabit it as a squatter.

He clarified that legal proceedings were currently underway to enforce his eviction, which was scheduled for early May. The proprietor also informed the officers that, due to the proximity of the vacancy date, he suspected that the tenant may have intentionally set the fire to damage the property before departing.

The tenants’ involvement in numerous prior incidents rendered them “convinced” that the tenant was responsible for the fire, as evidenced by the testimony of building residents during the subsequent investigation.

After extinguishing the fire, we verified that the resident was not at home at the time of the incident. In such instances, the Provincial Forensic Police Brigade was summoned to conduct a technical and police inspection of the residence, as per the established procedure.

Simultaneously, the National Police initiated a search operation, as they suspected that the resident was directly responsible for the fire’s inception. He was promptly apprehended while attempting to re-enter the burned-out home in the middle of the afternoon.

The individual who was apprehended has a criminal record for other offences and will be presented to the Alicante Investigative Court in the near future.