A firefighter dies after falling down a ravine in the Paüls fire, which is now under control.

BarcelonaAn auxiliary firefighter died this Thursday after falling down a 20-meter ravine while working in extinguishing the fire that has been burning since Monday afternoon in Paüls. This is a member of the Active Prevention Team (EPAF) of the Granollers fire station, an auxiliary unit in charge of preparing the ground. The man was working with hand tools to consolidate the perimeter in a steep area on the right flank of the fire—between Paüls and Alfara de Carles—when he fell into the ravine.

According to fire inspector Joan Rovira, the cause of the accident was the fall of a large rock that dragged the man—whose name was Antonio Serrano, 46 years old, and had a son—to a cliff more than 20 meters high. The technician was sitting waiting for a water line to reach the area.

The accident occurred at 2:17 p.m. His colleagues with him immediately intervened with initial assistance while the rescue team was activated. A helicopter with a joint GRAE Mountain rescue team and a doctor from the Medical Emergency System (SEM), as well as a medical helicopter from the SEM, were dispatched to the scene of the accident. The latter transported the firefighter to the Virgen de la Cinta Hospital in Tortosa, where he ultimately died.

The General Directorate of Fire Prevention, Extinction and Rescue (DGPEIS) has opened an investigation to determine the circumstances and causes of the events. It also expressed its condolences to the victim's family and expressed its support for the colleagues who were working with him on this service. EPAF technicians are employed by the Forestry Action Group (GRAF) during fires and are responsible for clearing vegetation, preparing areas for extinguishing fires, and working the burned soil to cool it.

"I deeply regret the death of a firefighter in the line of duty while working to extinguish the fire in Paüls in the Baix Ebre," said the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, in a message to X. The head of the executive has sent his heartfelt condolences to the bodies of the Bomba "task" they do. The Generalitat has also decreed a day of mourning in Catalonia.

For her part, the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, said she was "dismayed" by the death, while the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, who highlighted on the same social network his "recognition of the enormous work carried out by firefighters and emergency services in the fight against fires."

Fire situation

The fatal accident of the EPAF technician comes at the end of a fire that has been burning since Monday and was declared under control last night after four days of uninterrupted work by hundreds of members of the Generalitat Fire Department. The rain that fell early Thursday morning helped soak the ground and consolidate all the work to secure the perimeter of the Paüls fire, which has burned more than 3,300 hectares, a third of them within the Ports Natural Park.

The Paüls fire is the second major fire recorded in Catalonia this summer. after the one in Segarra, in which two people died.