“Be careful, smoke is coming out.” And it was coming out. That intensely black smoke turned into a terrifying fire that engulfed a municipal vehicle. The cause is unknown. Flames engulfed the electric car, which was charging in front of the town hall. The council is renting it.

Local police units were dispatched to the scene and, according to initial reports, moved other vehicles to the side to prevent the flames from spreading. They heard explosions. Firefighters from the Benissa unit arrived and brought the blaze under control. The area, in the heart of Calp, had to be cordoned off. There was tremendous excitement. Life in such a central location came to a halt. All this happened around 7:30 a.m. yesterday, Tuesday, April 29th.

The Provincial Fire Consortium has conducted 65 operations during the blackout, the majority of which involved the opening of lifts to rescue individuals who were confined. The Provincial Council reported on Tuesday, April 29th, that the operations also involved the transportation of individuals who required oxygen to hospitals and the provision of fuel to nursing homes and hospitals.

Yesterday, Toni Pérez, the President of the Alicante Provincial Council, commended the emergency services of the provincial institution and those of its dependent centres for their performance during the power outage. He also emphasised that the provincial services, particularly those of the Fire Brigade Consortium, were bolstered to address all emergency calls, as well as other responsibilities related to computer and social assistance.

“The Provincial Council has been coordinating the necessary actions to manage this unprecedented nationwide power outage and to ensure the emergency requests received, especially those related to the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable groups in our province,” explained the president. He also assured that, since the incident, various assistance and prevention services have been intensified and will continue to be so throughout the day to fully restore services.”

The president, who participated remotely in the CECOPI meeting that was urgently convened by the Valencian Agency for Security and Emergency Response yesterday afternoon, stated that the meeting “emphasised the importance of logistical support for the region’s health centres to ensure their normal operations.”

In addition, provincial emergency services were fortified with seven forest firefighting units last night to mitigate potential fire hazards in rural areas in the event of any issues with power lines.

According to the Provincial Council, approximately 110 professional firefighters are on standby for any additional circumstances that may arise this Tuesday.

Concurrently, the Institutional Support and Local Entities Unit, which supervises the Provincial Council’s IT and Telecommunications Service, was engaged in the restoration of IT support services to the province’s 141 municipalities from the early hours, working throughout the day until midnight and commencing at 7 a.m. yesterday. At present, the majority of online municipal applications are operational, and those that pertain to accounting and census are entirely operational.

The Provincial Council has reported that the Antonio Fernández Valenzuela Provincial Home and the Doctor Esquerdo Centre have not experienced any incidents, as they have their own generators that enable them to operate as usual throughout the day.

In contrast, Suma has disclosed that its 47 locations are outfitted with UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems to guarantee service continuity during power fluctuations and to provide backup power for brief periods. The availability of power in certain regional offices, payment payment systems, and access to bill payment management platforms were the primary incidents that affected customer service, resulting in an 80% return to normal.

This incident has enabled Suma to effectively activate established security protocols, thereby demonstrating the efficacy of the contingency systems and response capacity to unforeseen situations, as per the Provincial Council.

A 68-year-old woman was rescued by members of the Provincial Fire Consortium at the Albir Lighthouse in Alfaz del Pi (Alicante) on Saturday, April 26th. She was en route to the l’Alt del Governador de la Serra Gelada when she sustained a fracture of the Achilles tendon, rendering it impossible for her to recommence walking.

The rescue helicopter Alpha 01 and the special group of rescue (GER) were deployed to the scene after the notice was received at approximately 12:28 p.m., according to a statement from the Consortium.

The helicopter was activated to provide rescue services with the GER when the woman was unable to reach the ambulance due to the area’s orography.

The firefighters descended to their position after they were located, and the injured joint was splinted.

Subsequently, they deployed a hoist to elevate the woman to the helicopter, which transported her to San Vicente Park, where she was met by a Basic Life Support (BLS) unit. The intervention concluded at 1:35 p.m.