Briton tells of surviving Spain wildfire in car as wife and friends died trying to run to safety
Malcolm Timbrell's wife and their friends are thought to have died when a devastating wildfire tore through their village in Spain.
A British man has recounted his harrowing experience of surviving a wildfire in Spain while his wife and 12 friends are believed to have perished as they attempted to escape. Malcolm Timbrell, 70, and his wife Annette Kilgore, 69, resided in the village of Bédar in Almeria province, which was engulfed by flames last Thursday evening, resulting in 13 fatalities.
Speaking to the BBC outside his devastated home perched on a hillside, Malcolm expressed his disbelief at the tragedy. "You'd never imagine it could happen," he remarked. "And when it does, and you're the only survivor, then you're left in a situation of, 'What can I do?'"
The couple discovered their home while appearing on the Channel 4 show A Place in the Sun. "She was such a happy, outgoing person," Malcolm said of his partner of 17 years. "We have had an amazing life together - and now it's stopped."
The wildfire, one of the deadliest in Spain's history, spread rapidly through Bédar, forcing Malcolm, Annette, and their friends to make a hasty decision to flee. As the flames, fueled by strong winds, approached their home, they opted to escape by car. However, Malcolm returned to retrieve their cats, Charlie and Lilly.
"If we'd have done the sensible thing and gone the other way and let our cats die, we both would be alive. But when you've got animals, you don't think like that," he explained. After securing the cats, Malcolm tried to catch up with the group, only to find they had exited their vehicles.
"My wife and our other seven friends and neighbours - against me screaming at them not to - decided the only safe way was to walk out in front of the firewall. I've subsequently heard that that fire wall was moving at 20 kilometres per hour, plus. They had no chance."
Left alone in the chaos, Malcolm sought refuge in abandoned cars. "Of the six cars, four of them instantly combusted and as each one started to go, I moved back one car. For some reason of fate, the last two cars, although very, very badly singed and paint bubbled and burnt, survived. And I survived inside the last one with a cat."
Eventually, the flames passed, and Malcolm was rescued by emergency personnel. However, the bodies of eight individuals were later found on a path leading from the couple's home, with four vehicles discovered burnt out at the scene. Local authorities reported that four additional victims, recovered from a right-hand drive vehicle, were believed to be British. While not all victims have been identified, Spanish officials confirmed that three Britons and one national each from France, Belgium, and Spain were among the deceased. One victim was a 93-year-old woman, thought to be British, who succumbed to her injuries in the hospital on Sunday.
Many British expatriates in Bédar have criticized the absence of a mobile phone alert system, but Malcolm refrained from placing blame. He noted, "The local authorities didn't have time to get the seaplanes here before dark," adding, "The helicopters couldn't get up because of the smoke." He believed the combination of high winds, dry land, and soaring temperatures created a disastrous situation. "It's nobody's fault. Nobody can be blamed for this."
Malcolm expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support he has received from friends of various nationalities. He and Annette had moved to Spain after years of sailing together, both having lost previous partners to terminal illnesses. They had envisioned spending their final years in the peaceful Andalusian countryside.
"There's just that little spark of hope, even though I know a body has been found clutching a cat. Hard cold facts are pointing to the bodies they've found," he said. Malcolm also acknowledged the local police for their assistance and updates on the situation. However, he is apprehensive about the emotional toll of his loss in the days to come. "So we are just waiting now for DNA clarification. And after that, I will probably just fall apart."
Additional reporting by Kostas Kallergis and Juan Dominguez.