Brit whose wife and 12 friends are feared dead after Spain wildfires tells of how he survived as the wall of flames tore past – after rushing back to save their cats
A British man whose wife and 12 friends and neighbours are all feared to have died in the Spanish wildfires has told how he managed to survive.
Malcolm Timbrell, 70, lived in the village of Bédar, in Almeria province, with his wife Annette Kilgore before it was destroyed by an aggressive blaze last Thursday evening, leaving at least 13 people dead.
As the flames drew closer to their properties, the couple and their neighbours attempted to flee the scene by car.
However, Mr Timbrell made the split-second decision to head back to the house for his beloved cats, Charlie and Lilly.
Once he had gathered both pets, Mr Timbrell tried to catch up with the group, only to discover they had stepped out of 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,’ he told the BBC.
‘I’ve subsequently heard that that fire wall was moving at 20 kilometres per hour, plus. They had no chance.’
Having just lost his wife, 69, Mr Timbrell decided to take refuge in one of the six abandoned cars.
Four of them instantly combusted in front of his eyes, he said, but by some ‘reason of fate’ the vehicle he was hiding inside survived the heat.
Malcolm Timbrell, 70, with his wife Annette Kilgore, 69, who is believed to have died in the wildfires on Thursday
The four vehicles which combusted from the fire in Bédar, in Almeria province, last Thursday
The remains of the burned-out cars used by people who died while trying to escape the deadly wildfires
The flames eventually passed by and the 70-year-old was rescued by emergency fire crew.
‘It’s something you could never imagine could happen, and when it does, and you’re the only survivor in this situation, what can I do? We are just waiting now for DNA clarification, and after that I will probably just fall apart,’ he said.
Mr Timbrell described his wife as a ‘happy’ and ‘outgoing’ person, adding they had shared an ‘amazing’ life together.
Eight bodies were later discovered on a path near the couple’s home.
The number of confirmed British victims – one aged 93 – who lost their lives in the Spain wildfire has now risen to five.
Earlier police said the 93-year-old woman who died in hospital was British while three of the first six identified through DNA tests and matches with loved ones were also from the UK.
They include expat couple Pete and Fran Gillam, whose daughter Danielle Gillam-Kirton flew to Spain from her home in the UK after they failed to respond to her messages and public appeals for information on their whereabouts.
The blaze first broke out late last Thursday in a semi-arid area near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains.
One national each from France, Belgium and Spain have also been identified as victims. Spanish authorities mistakenly reported that an American national was among the dead, but later said this woman was British.
Fran Gillam (pictured) and her husband were two of the Brits who died in the Spanish wildfire
Pete Gillam (pictured) and his wife’s daughter Danielle Gillam-Kirton flew to Spain from her home in the UK after they failed to respond to her messages and public appeals for information on their whereabouts
Emergency fire crew attempt to tackle the fatal wildfires in Spain last week
Smoke and flames rise during a wildfire in Los Gallardos, Spain, on Thursday
A general view of a house surrounded by the wildfire in Spain
Experts responsible for coordinating the identification work said they were the first six victims identified out of 12 bodies found at the fire’s epicentre.
Andalusian regional authorities said on Sunday that an elderly British woman injured in the fire had died in hospital.
Harrowing photographs have emerged showing how British wildfire victims ran out of road while fleeing down dirt tracks to escape the deadly blaze.
Pictures show the gutted and charred vehicle four British nationals are believed to have died in, after they were trapped by flames as they tried to evacuate the area.
Next to the vehicle were five other cars and a motorbike, abandoned in the same spot on a dirt track on a hillside near Bedar, where the mass loss of life occurred.
