Since 6th November 2002, a new firestation has been open, close to Antequera, on the road to Campillos. It is the largest of three in the local area, the others being in Campillos and Archidona and consisting of one fire-engine each and a small team of firemen. Together, the three stations cover a huge area. They attend house fires, commercial fires, traffic accidents as well as dealing with such things as chemical spillage.
| The province has a different team for forest fires with its own helicopters, engines and teams of firemen. The new firestation now boasts a range of vehicles. There is a truck for town fires, a small one for traffic accidents, one with an extension ladder for high buildings, one Landrover for countryside emergencies – a go anywhere vehicle! The fire-engines carry between one and a half to three thousand litres of water, though one can carry up to 9000 litres. This is used for commercial fires and accompanies the others where needed. All come fully-equipped with the latest high-tech tools. For example, the traffic accident engine has the strongest cutting tools available which is especially important these days as cars are being reinforced, in order to protect drivers and passengers, to such an extent that some tools have become obsolete. In pride of place stands the one and only chemical response vehicle in the whole of the province. This carries special protective suits, which completely cover the fireman, with integretated gloves, breathing apparatus and essential materials for treating chemical spillage. The last incident of this kind that they attended was when a tanker carrying 13,000 litres of sulphuric acid sprung a leak on the motorway near Archidona. A valve failed and acid was sprayed onto the road. The firemen had to contain the flood using banks of earth before they could neutralise it and clean it up. Jose Espinosa, the Fire Chief, told us that there were five teams of firemen at this station, working two shifts, from 9am to 9pm then 9pm to 9am. When they start work, they first check all vehicles and equipment. Then, after breakfast, they have regular daily training. The training covers all aspects of the emergencies they have to deal with, but they focus these days on traffic accidents because they receive the most calls for these. In their new station, they have a kitchen. The team for this day preferred to cook paella or pasta. Others prefer pizzas. Next to this is a lounge where they can relax when all is prepared. Upstairs there are bedrooms too. There is a communications office with radios, phones and maps. They keep their uniforms, blue jackets with reflective stripes, trousers, boots and helmets, on the ground floor next to the engines. Outside there is a tower and an open area for training, a pool for relaxation and training, though it can be used as a source of water in dire drought emergencies. Beyond the pool, they have the Brigade’s three original vehicles and they hope to open a museum one day. These basic vehicles consisted of a Landrover with hoses on the roof, a water tanker and a vehicle with a manual extension ladder. Before this station opened, they had only these three vehicles, plus a team of voluntary firemen who were called from their daily jobs to attend emergencies. They weren’t as well organised then, so whoever arrived at an accident, for example, would deal with the any injuries or fatalities as best as they could. Nowadays, they work closely with all the emergency services, police and ambulance, and while ambulance personnel stabilise the injured, the firemen work to free the patient. They also have their own ambulance, staffed by a doctor and a nurse. The training we observed this day dealt specifically with freeing a driver from a crashed vehicle which had ended up on its side. The Fire Brigade obtains vehicles in various states of repair from the Ayuntamiento and are happy to receive other wrecks for training. They positioned the engine where it would protect the firemen from oncoming traffic, then stabilised the car ensuring it wouldn’t move at all. After that, they cut off the roof, removed the windscreen, then the door, finally attaching a hydraulic jack to prise open the car, thus being able to safely remove any driver who may have been trapped by the legs or against the steering wheel. The tools they use, although powered from the generator in the fire-engine, contained oil-based workings and so could be used underwater too, should a car end up in a river or lake. The firemen were precise and careful in all they did, always aware that in an emergency, they would be dealing with real people. All emergency calls are filtered so they are able to prevent false calls, as have been known to happen elsewhere. It is not possible to call any service directly. Call 112 only to gain access to all emergency services, where they always have personnel who speak English, German, French or Catalan, with Arabic in the summer for the influx of visitors or workers. Moreover, even if your mobile phone is out of cover, you can still dial 112 and be connected. There are a few foreigners working as firemen in Spain, and four women fire fighters in the province, though none in this area. There is only one Academy in the province, in Malaga, and to become a fireman it is necessary to pass a physical and to undergo an intensive course of about three months. Fire stations then select their new members. They also have a schools programme, where they visit primary and secondary schools to talk to students about the dangers of fire, fire prevention and about their work. Meanwhile, they no longer turn out to rescue cats from trees They told us of a time when they rescued a particular cat five times, as every time they left, it went back up the tree! In their opinion, a cat will come down when it is hungry. They now recommend calling the animal protection services but they also charge for such calls. They consider it more important to be available to attend fire and accident emergencies, though they do respond to calls where horses or donkeys have strayed onto the road because they are a hazzard to traffic. It is apparent that the local fire station has come a long way from its primitive start and that, in two and half years, it has become an efficient, modern service which works closely with not only the other two stations, but also with all the emergency services. Response time is rapid, one minute to get out of the gate, plus the time it takes to travel which, in this area, may be up to 15 or 20 minutes. Some of the firemen have up to 20 years experience, and all exhibited the same enthusiasm for this dangerous and challenging job |
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