The Mollerussa fire station was forced to close for several hours yesterday morning after running out of special suits required for firefighting operations. According to sources close to the situation, two of the four on-duty professionals were transferred to the Tàrrega station, while the other two had to travel to Girona to collect new personal protective equipment (PPE).

This operation led to the station's closure for a period estimated by some professionals at five hours, although officials from the Lleida Emergency region put it at two and a half hours. The situation caused discontent among the professionals, who described it as "unacceptable".

The firefighters had used these suits while extinguishing a fire in a bar in the historic center of Lleida early Sunday morning. As they had not been replenished, they found themselves without adequate work clothing yesterday to respond to any incidents.

For his part, the head of the Lleida Emergency Region, Joan Josep Bellostas, stated that contaminated PPE is removed and replaced, admitting that this was not the case here. He attributed the situation to adjustments in the supply contract, which is nearing its end, although he clarified that 9,000 PPE items are expected before the year's end. Bellostas also explained that firefighters operate as a network, meaning the Pla and Garrigues area, served by the Mollerussa station, would have been covered by firefighters from Lleida or Tàrrega had any incident occurred.