Three Flat Fires in Catalonia Leave Five Injured Overnight

Five people needed medical care after three separate fires broke out in flats across Catalonia between Saturday afternoon, Nov. 7, and the early hours of Sunday, Nov. 8. All five were described as having minor injuries, according to the Catalan outlet El Caso.

The fires hit homes in La Riera de Gaià in the Tarragonès area, Sitges in the Garraf and Sentmenat in the Vallès Occidental. The Bombers de la Generalitat (Catalonia’s regional fire service) responded to all three.

La Riera de Gaià: two tenants treated for smoke

The first alarm came in on Saturday afternoon, shortly before half past two, when a call to the 112 emergency number reported a fire inside a home on Carrer de Montserrat in La Riera de Gaià, in the province of Tarragona.

The fire service sent four crews, who found flames and smoke on the second floor. Two tenants were affected by smoke inhalation. The Sistema d’Emergències Mèdiques, or SEM (Catalonia’s emergency ambulance service), arrived with two ambulances and took both to Hospital Sant Pau i Santa Tecla. Their condition was minor.

Sitges: kitchen fire on a second floor

Around half past seven that evening, five fire crews went to Carrer d’en Bosc in Sitges, where a fire had started in the kitchen of a second-floor flat.

Local police officers got there first and tackled the flames with an extinguisher. Firefighters then put out what remained and aired out the home. One woman with minor injuries was taken to Hospital Residència Sant Camil.

Sentmenat: electric heater sparks bathroom blaze

The third fire started around three in the morning on Sunday in a flat in Sentmenat, in the Vallès Occidental. According to El Caso, an electric heater caused a fire in the bathroom.

The residents acted before the fire service arrived. They emptied two fire extinguishers on the flames, switched off the electricity and went down to the street. When firefighters reached the flat, they found no flames and no remaining heat in the bathroom. They searched every room to make sure no one was left inside and ventilated the home.

Readings from a carbon monoxide detector came back negative. SEM medical staff treated two men for minor injuries at the scene, and neither had to go to hospital.

What it means for residents

The three fires were spread over three different comarques (Catalan administrative districts), from the coast south of Barcelona to the inland Vallès and the Tarragona area. Each one started inside a home, and two of them were on a second floor, where smoke can quickly affect neighbours and the people living there.

In two of the three cases, a quick first response made a difference before firefighters took over. In Sitges, the local police used an extinguisher on arrival. In Sentmenat, the tenants put out the fire themselves, cut the power and left the building, so the fire service found the blaze already out.

The Sentmenat fire also had a clear cause. An electric heater in the bathroom started it, according to the report. The cause of the other two fires was not disclosed.

Who responded

The Bombers de la Generalitat, the fire service run by the Generalitat (Catalan government), handled all three incidents. In total they sent four crews to La Riera de Gaià and five to Sitges. The SEM provided ambulance care in La Riera de Gaià and Sentmenat.

Calls about fires and other emergencies anywhere in Catalonia go through 112, the same number that raised the first alarm on Saturday.

Source: El Caso