On 8 November, a firefighter was injured whilst putting out a fire in a restaurant in Palma. | Palma Fire Brigade

TW
0

An investigation has been launched after Palma firefighters suffered carbon monoxide poisoning when their equipment failed.

On 8 November a fireman checked that he had enough pressure in the air bottle of his Autonomus Respiration Equipment, or ERA, before he went into a restaurant to put out a fire but once he was inside it stopped working and he couldn’t get any air.

A similar incident occurred on 21 October when a firefighter was on one of the highest floors of a building extinguishing a fire when he realized that the breathing apparatus was warning him that only the air reserve remained.

Both men were given oxygen therapy and did not suffer long term damage.

Unfortunately this problem with breathing equipment is not new. In January 2018, the Firefighters Association presented an unofficial report on the anomalies and problems detected.

The report states that the company responsible for the service "has responded poorly".