Port access- The container will enable over a hundred bottles of compressed air breathing cylinders and other components of self-contained breathing apparatus to be transported to the scene of incidents requiring such equipment, as well as to the different fire stations in the province for the maintenance of their respective breathing apparatus.
- The Port Authority has acquired this new state-of-the-art equipment as part of the collaboration agreement signed with the Provincial Council for prevention, guidance and intervention in the case of fire and other incidents that may occur in the port of Bilbao.
- The total investment made by the Port Authority is in excess of EUR 250,000.
The President of the Port Authority of Bilbao, Ricardo Barkala, has handed over to the Head of Public Administration and Institutional Relations of the Bizkaia Provincial Council, Elixabete Etxanobe, a container with state-of-the-art self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), to be used by members of the Bizkaia Provincial Council Fire Fighting, Prevention and Rescue Service, by virtue of the collaboration agreement signed between the two organisations. The investment made by the Port Authority amounts to EUR 251,175.
The resources available to the Bizkaia Fire Service are constantly being improved and updated, and new tools are emerging which cannot be incorporated onto fire engines due to a lack of space, as they are already equipped with a lot of material. The container will enable over a hundred bottles of compressed air breathing cylinders and other components of self-contained breathing apparatus to be transported to the scene of incidents requiring such equipment, as well as to the different fire stations in the province for the maintenance of their respective breathing apparatus.
Self-contained breathing apparatus is essential for personal safety and rescue work, as it enables firefighters to breathe in conditions where there are toxic gases or insufficient oxygen, or where there are high temperatures. This equipment enables the person to breathe completely clean air, preventing any toxins or impurities from seeping into the airways.
Features of the SCBA container
The SCBA container for the Bizkaia Provincial Council Fire Fighting, Prevention and Rescue Service has a storage area with a capacity for transporting 115 cylinders on 5 independent trolleys, as well as shelves for storing the different component parts of the equipment: 24 back plates,
24 regulators and 36 respiratory masks, for replacement when carrying out preventive/corrective maintenance work or in the event of real intervention. For this latter case of intervention, the container is equipped with a high-pressure compressor for breathable air, with a load capacity of around 250 l/m. The container also has a work area for the maintenance, checking and control of masks and back plates.
The container is coupled to a carrier truck and can be unloaded onto the ground, though it operates identically, especially in the event of a real intervention, irrespective of whether it is attached to the vehicle transporting it or not. It also has its own power supply system, independent of the possibility of connection to the external power grid.
Collaboration agreement
This provision is part of the collaboration agreement in place since 1996 between the Port Authority of Bilbao and the Bizkaia Provincial Council, through which the firemen and women of the Provincial Council are designated as a ‘Port of Bilbao Intervention Group’, as set out in the Port’s Self-Protection Plan. For its part, the Port Authority of Bilbao has undertaken to provide the Bizkaia Provincial Council Fire Fighting, Prevention and Rescue Service with technical equipment and specific training for intervention in incidents which, in view of the port’s particular characteristics, may arise.
The current agreement, signed last September, runs for four years, putting the port of Bilbao at the forefront of the Spanish port system in terms of its capacity to respond to possible accidents involving hazardous goods.
