“Prevent against fire risks and threats through knowledge to create a safer province.” With this objective, the deputy of the Castellon Province Fire Department, David Vicente, has presented, together with the Head of Operations, Andrés Balfagó, and the head of the Forestry Unit, Fernando Pérez, the new line of informative campaigns of fire prevention of the Provincial Firefighters Consortium for 2024. An initiative that seeks to “raise awareness among the population about the main risks and factors hidden behind fires.”
This was explained by the Firefighters deputy, who highlighted the importance of “preparing the population against risks and threats, in this case in the first campaign that is already underway, against the risk of fire in homes.” “It is about raising awareness among the residents of the province of Castelló about the importance of being very prepared for domestic fires,” he said. The campaign is already underway in the main media and social networks.
And, of the 5,206 actions that the Provincial Firefighters Consortium attended in 2022, a total of 221 corresponded to fires in the homes of Castellón residents. A high figure, which has increased in the last year. In 2023, of the 5,560 emergencies attended, a total of 251 corresponded to fires in homes, 39 of them in the month of December. Furthermore, this 2024 there have already been 39 home fires in the province as a whole, for which the provincial deputy has called for responsibility and citizen awareness, because “the concern is maximum” and has assured that “it is fundamental “know how to act in an emergency and today we present this campaign to raise awareness among the residents of Castelló.”
“It is about creating a culture of prevention in the province,” highlighted the Chief Operations Officer, Andrés *Balfagó. In this sense, he explained that “this awareness campaign especially affects the good maintenance of the heating systems we have at home, such as stoves and boilers, and proper cleaning of chimneys, one of the points in the house where “more fires occur.”
Furthermore, the Consortium has stressed the importance of installing smoke detectors, a simple and economical method of application in any home. In this way, Andrés Balfagó recalled that “the Castelló Provincial Council has a free campaign to install these elements for people over 65 years of age.” This can be requested through the website of the Provincial Council or the Provincial Consortium.
Prevention against vegetation fires
The deputy delegate of the Castellon Province Fire Department has insisted on the importance of “knowing well how to prevent domestic fires, but also forest fires and vegetation fires, in a province with a natural environment that, together, we must preserve.”
In this sense, it has warned of the increase in vegetation fires outside the classic season of the summer months due to drought and abnormally high temperatures for this time of year.
Without a doubt, the figures support the warning call, because in 2024 there have been nearly 60 vegetation fires in the province of Castelló. Therefore, the fire department recommends that the population take extreme precautions, since vegetation and forest fires can occur at any time of the year. In this way, David Vicente has emphasized “the importance of avoiding errors that could endanger human lives and the natural heritage of our province.”
“We have a very large forest area, with nearby inhabited areas, with agricultural and livestock farms that we have to protect,” said the provincial deputy. For his part, the head of the Forestry Unit, Fernando Pérez, has insisted that “the weather conditions are favorable for large forest fires to occur” and has asked for “a lot of responsibility, because the conditions are worse than last year.”
A safer province
The Castelló Provincial Council and the Provincial Firefighters Consortium thus enhance the awareness of the population as a “measure to prevent the increase in fires and protect the lives of all Castellón residents, their property and the environment,” David Vicente stressed.
Thus, as the provincial deputy has highlighted, “this line of prevention campaigns is part of a project that the Firefighters Consortium and the Castelló Provincial Council, chaired by Marta Barrachina, have for this legislature.” In this way, he stated that “the provincial institution is reinforcing investment in the various areas of the Consortium.”
The Castelló Provincial Council has made an injection of more than one million euros for the purchase of clothing, vehicles and various equipment for the body’s personnel. In this sense, David Vicente has highlighted the investment of more than 700,000 euros in pumper trucks, as well as the 100,000 euros for command unit vehicles or intervention boots of nearly 70,000 euros, among other acquisitions.
“An important reinforcement in material resources of the Consortium, which adds to the effort in expanding the human team, with the recent call for 40 new positions, among firefighters, non-commissioned officers, guard officers and communications operators, of which firefighters and guard officers, the deadline for submitting applications is now open,” highlighted the provincial deputy.
In addition, the provincial institution has opened the selection process for 25 new positions for the Provincial Civil Protection Volunteer Group, “an important group in the different preventive devices that are provided in all the municipalities of the province and in logistical support to emergency devices,” said David Vicente.
In this sense, David Vicente has highlighted the commitment that the government team of the provincial institution, chaired by Marta Barrachina, has been demonstrating “with the security and civil protection of the province.” “From the first day of this legislature we have tried to establish a line of work and political leadership,” said the deputy, who continued by saying that “everything is aimed at ensuring that our firefighters have the best tools to carry out their work in the best conditions and provide the best possible service throughout the province.”
