- “We are very angry and concerned.” This has been reported by a Biscayan firefighter who has asked ARGIA to keep its name secret. On 6 February, he was sent to the landfill managed by the company Verter Recycling at 20:00 hours to give way to the firefighters who were there. He says that they worked unprepared for toxic substances and that they have recently learned that in the clothes of three firefighters from Bizkaia who came to the site, asbestos remains have been found.
“You can’t imagine how much shit there was. It was a terrible picture and a horrible stench. In this landfill there is not only asbestos, there is a lot of hazardous waste there,” he explains. The operation was divided into two parts, one down, freeing the highway, the other up, seeking Joaquín Sololuze and Alberto Beltrán. The firefighter who gave us the testimony was up.
Before leaving, they knew that two workers were going to be rescued, but at the same time, they were informed that there was a landslide in the landfill and that the landfill had torn down the hillside. That was not the case, it was the landfill itself that had fallen, and it was a waste disposal that had reached the freeway, not the mountain. Special suits are usually carried in the truck in case of spills or toxic products. They didn't know they needed them and they were working for several hours with fat pants, jackets, helmets and boots that usually lead to any fire. They did not use face masks.
The firefighter interviewed at the Eitzaga landfill was for about four hours. By Bizkaia, firefighters from Derio, Iurreta, Basauri and Armur came from the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Basque Government. The Council of Gipuzkoa also sent them in the first round, by Eibar and Oñati. The operation was coordinated by a Civil Protection technician known as “BZ”. She was up. The firefighter who gave us the testimony reminds us that the BZ asked the firefighters for eight masks because those who were digging with the blades in their hand could not breathe. “We had them in the truck, but we didn’t use them for unconsciousness.”
In total, some 60 people worked on the first day without getting well prepared for asbestos rescue work.
The works were also paralysed due to the darkness and instability of the terrain, with the risk of a re-occurrence of waste. Along with the Ertzainas, the firefighters of the first batch were making holes at the points marking the dogs nearby. They were dedicated to illuminating the surroundings, although they had to work at night. “We were waiting for orders, looking at what to do.”
“It was at night when we arrived. Imagine, thousands of tons of fallen garbage. The crowd called and fluttered for several hours. There were thousands of tons of asbestos in the rubbish, and we weren't well prepared. People made a great physical effort.” In total, some 60 people worked on the first day in the rescue work between asbestos and asbestos without preparing well: Volunteers with around thirty firefighters, 30 Ertzaines and rescue dogs, among others.
And all of a sudden, at midnight, along with Osalan's technician came the news that had shattered them all: “No one else here will work, this is a field full of asbestos.” It took hours. “We have a tremendous disgust. Suddenly, a very bad roll spread. The face that was left to us was obvious, and I remember that BZ, who was in the operating room, was full of mud in his shoes. The world fell on him.”
We weren't well prepared for that job. If we didn't even have a miserable snail! We made a huge physical effort, through the mouth, anything went in."
“We all left everything all of a sudden and left there. We weren't well prepared for this work. If we didn't even have a miserable snail! We made an incredible physical effort, and we got everything in our mouths. Asbestos releases microfibers into the air. We don’t know what happened to us that day.” Members at the top of the operation noted that they were retiring from the vehicle and noted with astonishment that the people who were freeing the freeway were still working.
When they arrived at the fire station, they left the doors of the trucks open and undressed before entering the building. They didn't want to pollute the fire brigade. They were stored in plastic bags to detoxify the intervention suits, and in the garbage bags, all the clothes that were worn each underneath were thrown: underwear, light pants -- everything was thrown in the trash. They had a shower and went home in new clothes. There was concern among colleagues, but fear spread mostly the following morning, when it was read in the media where they were.
The following day, the Chief Medical Officer and the Fire Officer provided explanations to the firefighters of Iurreta and Derio. “They tried to reassure us, to take away our importance. But a week later, the doctor informed them that they had found asbestos fibers in the uniforms of three firefighters.”
“I felt scared and angry. You're locked up, and nobody seems to know anything. I have heard politicians say that it is the company that has to give answers: How can you say that? Both the Member of Bizkaia and the Basque Government already knew that there was asbestos there, they are the ones who grant them the licences. How is it possible that nobody has said anything for almost eight hours? We feel like a puppet,” he says angry. The dangerous elements that could breathe that day are unknown.
“Later we learned that there was asbestos, now we know that we were exponents, that is no longer in doubt.” All members of the rescue teams who went to the Zaldibar disaster on that day will have medical follow-up. However, the fire service in Bizkaia has disconnected professionals who were engaged in digging holes from the landfill of other tasks. First and second courses. The seconds complain that everyone had been stuck on the same cake and that the particles circulating in the air could be breathed by anyone.
From the following day onwards, firefighters came in special clothing to the Zaldibar landfill.
