The provision of adequate equipment for the Fire-Department Services and investing in the professional qualification of firemen and women were central to the efficient response of the Fire-Department of Praia da Vitoria to the fire that took place on the ship IZAR ARGIA, anchored in the port of Praia da Vitoria.

The fire that began at 16:55 hrs on the 9th of March “can be considered one of the most complex to be faced by the firemen of the Azores”, said the Vice-President of the Civil Protection and Fire-Department Services of the Azores (SRPCBA) at a press conference that took place on Tueaday in the city of Angra do Heroísmo to inform the public about work undertaken in the fire-fight operation.

Ricardo Barros extolled the professionalism and courage of the firemen that “even in a situation of risk”, got the job done.

He said: I wish, on behalf of the fire-department service, to publicly express my thanks to the fire-department inspector Pedro Carvalho, who commanded the operations, as well as to the co-ordinating inspector Luis Paulo Andrade, co-ordinator Luis Martins as well as to the Commander of the Fire-Department of the city of Praia da Vitoria, Eduardo Arruda.”

Looking back at the events of the 9th of March, the Vice-President of SRPCBA said that when the fire service arrived at the locale of the fire, priorities were rapidly established. The first priority was to rescuer the two members of the crew. The second was the removal of acetylene and ammoniac containers that were stored in the two towers located above the fire, in the basement of the ship.

After this security operation was completed, it was necessary to cool the basement of the ship so that the flames could be dealt with later, which happened at 2 AM of the following day. Only later, at 5:30 AM was the fire completely extinguished.

In the following days, all material was removed from the ship, a great part of which carbonised. The basement of the ship was ventilated. Firemen left the ship only in the afternoon of Saturday.

Ricardo Barros said once again that the fact that the operation was successful is due to the “calm and patience of those that beat the always unpredictable and conniving manoeuvres of fire. Everything went well because the know-how of the firemen controlled the voracity of the flames.”

The Vice-President of the Civil Protection Services expressed his thanks to the Commander of the Port, João Gonçalves and to the President of APTG, Ribeiro Pinto, for his collaboration and availability during the five days of the operation.

This event shows that in “real life situation”  Azorean firemen, in this case the firemen of the Fire-Department of Praia da Vitoria and Angra do Heroismo, are prepared to deal with any emergency situation.