The afternoons pass in a tense calm in the Headquarters of the Military Emergency Unit (UME). Since the fire phase began, a platoon formed two days of guard duty, prepared in case the dreaded call arrives: that there is a fire that cannot be controlled somewhere in spain. So, the UME activates a protocol that they practice daily and do almost without thinking to help where they are needed.
Mornings at the barracks are more dynamic for soldiers on call. They arrive at eight o’clock, raise the flag and do physical exercise, normally two hours. Afterwards, shower, sandwich and whatever it takes.
The last week of May the fire phase came into force in the UME, a period that lasts until the end of September. Then, the autumn flood phase begins, which takes over from the snowfall, until spring blooms and they return to the rainy season until summer, the time of greatest demand and alarm for the UME that this newspaper verified during the day of practice that he carried out with them.
When a fire breaks out, a technical director of extinction stands in front. He is a public official outside the Army with training and skills to lead the personnel necessary to delimit the fire. Because, as the members of the UME explain, the flames do not go out, they are delimited so that they are extinguished. “Fire is attacked with fire” is their motto. At the first level, it is the local and regional media who are working against the flames. Once the second phase is reached, the extinction director decides when the UME is called, which acts on request.
And then that call comes and the time trial is activated. The command vehicle with a lieutenant on board has to leave the barracks in less than 15 minutes. Meanwhile, a supply truck, three pumpers and a park truck start up. In less than an hour after the call is received they have to be ready. The gear that they rehearse begins from the moment they activate the fire phase.