Updated 6pm, adds FKNK statement

Environmental experts will assess the damage caused by a large fire in the Miżieb woodland that broke out on Saturday and try to pinpoint the likely cause.

A spokesman for Environment Minister José Herrera told Times of Malta that a team of experts from Ambjent Malta and the Environment and Resources Authority would be analysing the extent of the damage caused to the area.

The team would also be trying to pinpoint what caused the fire, and draft an action plan to avoid future recurrences.

Firefighters battled the large grass fire in the Miżieb woodlands of northern Malta until early on Sunday.

The fire broke out on Saturday morning and firefighters reached the scene soon after receiving the first reports of smoke in the area.

Several hours later, they were still working to contain the fire, with smoke which could be seen from kilometres away.

The Hunters’ Federation FKNK on Sunday said that they suspected that the fire may not have been a natural occurrence, and have reported it to the police.

The hunters lashed out against continuous vandalism to the area, and called for adequate surveillance and enforcement to crackdown on the abuse.

Sources involved in the policing of the natural environment told Times of Malta that the fire was most likely the result of one of three possible factors.

“Yesterday farmers were burning dry grass in nearby fields so that could have caused the outbreak. This could also have been the result of some trash which was abandoned in the countryside and caught fire in the blazing sun. Or, this fire could have been a natural event. It remains to be seen which of these the actual cause was,” a source said.

FKNK statement

In another statement in the afternoon, the FKNK said that shortly after the fire was put out on Sunday, vandals scattered rubbish all around the area.

Members who went on site to continue with their conservation work found a disaster and had to call the police.

The FKNK said that no damage, vandalism or provocation would stop its members from working on the reserve and it would continue to insist all reserves should have the necessary official surveillance and enforcement.

If anyone believed Saturday’s fire could have started on its own, there was no doubt that Sunday’s vandalism was a cowardly action by vandals.

The FKNK warned that no confrontation would lead it to give up the reserves which it had been managing since 1986.