Firefighters from Zaragoza will train troops from all over Spain in handling emergencies with hydrogen, an element that, as the service’s chief inspector Eduardo Sánchez recalled, is “highly flammable”, transported in “high pressure” containers and implies There are new risks, noting that, “when there is a fire, the flame is not visible”.
All these specialties are being analyzed in a workshop at the Fire Museum, attended by soldiers from 14 cities in Spain as well as members of officer schools in France and Italy. This Tuesday, the session is theoretical and tomorrow there will be practice with a real fire in the park of La Cartuja Baja.
The initiative is part of the European HyResponder program, which includes a dozen countries on the old continent. The firefighters of Zaragoza explained, Valero Sanmartin, chief of intervention, have been training for the past four years to deal with emergencies with hydrogen, and now they will provide the necessary guidelines for the rest to know how to act.
“It is a matter of pride for us. Zaragoza has a modest school, but we are fully aware that the most important thing is training to prevent these possible accidents and to be ready to intervene if necessary. “
Sanchez stressed that the use of hydrogen is still in its infancy. “With electric cars, on the other hand, this did not happen. The technology came suddenly, forcing us to learn from the risks. Now, instead, we are planning; anticipating what may come”, he explained. This element has its own peculiarities, as in the case of electric cars themselves, which are “completely” changed compared to combustion vehicles, the circumstances must be taken into account when extinguishing a fire, since the reaction is also ” must be different”.
The project is also nurtured by the experience of the University of Zaragoza in Norway or the United Kingdom and others. “We are addressing the educational approach, adapting it to the needs of each country so that education and training are more profitable”, said Cesar García Hernández, research professor at the Public Campus.
