In 1996 the CPBC made history in the Valencian Community for creating the first division specifically intended to look after the forestry field. From that moment, its aim is to protect the rich forest heritage of the Castellón province.
Forest heritage
More than 400.000 hectares of forest, a complex orography and peaks that reach up to 2000 metres high. Our mission: to protect the rich forest heritage of one of the most mountainous provinces of Spain.
Forestry agreement
The Generalitat Valenciana has jurisdiction regarding extinguishing forest fires in the entire community. In Castellón province, the Castellón Province Fire Department assumes the management of the human and material resources used to fight against forest fires since 1994, thanks to an agreement with the regional government.
In the front line
The CPBC owns 12 Rural Emergency Stations, which are part of the Forestry Section and constitute the basis of 12 of the 15 Forest Firefighters Units assigned to the CPBC by the Generalitat Valenciana. The three remaining basis are provisional. In summer they are reinforced by adding three more until reaching 18 basis. The CPBC also owns an air base in Castelló de la Plana, equipped with a helicopter and one of the two Heli-Transported Forestry Firefighters units assigned to the CPBC by the Generalitat Valenciana. The second base is located in Tírig, in a regional government facility.
On land and in the air
Forest fires are one of the emergencies that require a biggest mobilization of resources and very complex logistical, coordination and command inner workings. The CPBC has a perfectly organised structure to deal with these emergencies through its Forestry Section, which manages the operations and coordinates all means available, both the ones that belong to the Castellón Province Fire Department, and the ones from the Generalitat or external agencies that might be mobilised. The means and ways of acting are constantly being adapted to the forestry reality of the province, marked by the Mediterranean climate and the effects of climate change, the abandonment of farmlands and the increasing number of housing and human activity in the so-called wildland-urban interface. For all these reasons, forest fires are one of most complex emergencies likely to occur in our province.
Prevention and self-protection
Prevention is one of the main keys to fight forest fires. Because of that, the CPBC carries out information campaigns amongst the citizens of the province, for both avoiding fires, minimising its consequences and knowing how to protect themselves.
Risks and Emergencies Mitigation Brigades
In 2016, the Diputación of Castellón, through its Fire Department, the CPBC, planned to create a new Forestry Division, which would work throughout the year in order to minimise damage during forest fires and other weather-related hazards such as heavy rains. The Risks and Emergencies Mitigation Brigades were born one year after that, thanks to the collaboration between the Diputación of Castellón and the Generalitat Valenciana, with 16 brigades that cover the entire province and are managed by the Forestry Division of the CPBC. Among its work we can find the creation of safety strips in interface areas, the cleaning of ravines as they pass through urban areas or specific infrastructures, or the creation of safety zones for fire intervention.
Distribution of the Forest Firefighter Units (UBF) of the CPBC
UBF with base in a CPBC Rural Emergency Station
UBF with provisional base
Reinforcement UBF
Heli-Transported UBF
Air Tractor planes base
