Trip to Spain

Here is a collection of photos by member Firefighter/EMT Andrew Wingfield from his visits to various fire departments and EMS agencies in Spain, primarily in the Basque province of Vizcaya and its capital city Bilbao. The Spanish word for firefighter is "bombero" which literally means "one who pumps." The basque word for firefighter is "suhiltzaile" which literally translates to "fire killer." All government and public places must have everything in Basque which is why you will see suhiltzaile or suhiltzaileak on many of the apparatus and stations.

New Photos in La DYA de Barakaldo

In Spain and most of Europe, each firetruck can do only one thing. If it's an aerial, then it has no hoses, no pump, nothing besides the aerial itself. Some aerials are pre-piped and can accept water from an engine to supply water to the monitor on the aerial.

Rescue tools such as the Jaws, spreaders, etc. are all carried on a smaller truck that is used solely for automobile rescues. It carries all the necessary equipment for freeing someone from an auto accident.

Pumpers  have a small pump on the back of the apparatus where hoses can be connected directly and then water is fed to them via high pressure or low pressure. The hoses are stored rolled up in compartments and the primary attack line is a little under 1" in diameter, extremely small by our standards. Supply lines are 1.5" - 2" in diameter. The pump panel basically consists of an on/off switch and a couple levers that control water flow, nothing as complicated or sophisticated as our pump panels.

Fire hydrants can be aboveground or belowground. Belowground ones have a little cover over them that says "Bomberos" or "boca de riego" and the pumpers carry an actual hydrant that goes down into the ground, locks in, and creates ports to connect hoses to. Most fire hydrants are about 2" in diameter although a few have Storz fittings. Also most buildings don't have sprinkler systems or standpipes, which can be a big problem since most everyone lives in multi-family dwellings. However, most buildings are constructed of brick or concrete which tends to limit fire spread, unlike our wood-frame buildings.

Most all fire and EMS vehicles use orange/amber warning lights. Blue lights are reserved primarily for police and red is for civil protection. Orange/amber is also used by every other vehicle such as tow trucks, garbage trucks, and other slow-moving or public vehicles. You are only required to yield if it's an ambulance or fire truck though, which can be very confusing to the general public especially since the siren is only used under specific circumstances and conditions, it's rare to ever just leave it on like we do here. The Q siren also doesn't exist over there.

Right now there are multiple emergency numbers throughout the country. The European Union has established 112 to be the international number for all emergencies in all member-countries, but it is still being phased in. Spain has only implemented 112 in certain areas and cities. Other numbers still exist and in many areas you must dial a different number depending on if you need police, fire, or EMS and depending on your location. 112 - all emergencies (not in service in all of Spain). 092 - National Police. 091 - Ertzaintza. 088 - EMS. 080 - Fire. 061 - EMS. At this time most of the general public does not know what number to dial in an emergency. With 112 though, they hope to change this and make it as well known as our 911.