BLAZE: A wildfire on the edge of the Sierra Bermeja park in Estepona

AROUND 55 forest firefighters and two helicopters have been scrambled to battle a wildfire in Estepona.

BURNING: INFOCA footage of the affected area

A fire broke out in the Peñas Blancas area of the protected Sierra Bermeja natural park at about 12:30pm today.

The rare ancient pinsapo trees in the park are among three remaining zones of the species left in Europe.

PLUME: Grey smoke can be seen as far as Marbella ©theOlivePress

A group of four technicians and two environmental officers has also been dispatched according to INFOCA.

Crews from Estepona, Manilva and Algatocin have all been sent to tackle the blaze.

It comes as 8,000 people have been evacuated in Gran Canaria after wildfires began on Saturday.

Subscribe to the Olive Press

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.