Alicante fireworks fire update – one dead, four injured

Firefighters have found the lifeless body of the pyrotechnician from Alicante Pedro Luis Sirvent inside his workshop, located in the Fontcalent area of ​​Alicante, after a tragic explosion that occurred on Thursday morning for reasons that are still being investigated. The incident also caused four injuries, one of them seriously, with burns on 80% of his body, according to emergency services sources.

One of the injured is the son of the pyrotechnic artist and has suffered an anxiety attack, for which he has been treated at the scene of the tragedy. A 43-year-old woman has been taken by ambulance to the General Hospital of Alicante for anxiety attacks and mild smoke inhalation. The most seriously injured person, a 68-year-old man, has been transferred by helicopter to the Burns Unit of the La Fe hospital in Valencia.

The incident occurred at around 11.20 am, when, for reasons still to be clarified, a fire broke out in the warehouse area, where the material for the shows is sold to the public and stored. The Alicante Local Police were the first to arrive at the workshop. With the building still on fire, municipal security officers went in to rescue the victims, explained the mayor himself, Luis Barcala. The mayor was “very dismayed”, since Pedro Luis Sirvent was a very popular man at the Hogueras de San Juan.

Along with numerous emergency teams, police officers from the homicide, judicial, and explosives units (Tedax) have assembled in the area. Both José María Conesa, the top official of the Local Police of Alicante, and Manuel Lafuente, the provincial commissioner of the National Police, have visited the scene of the events.

Soon after, they were joined by the President of the Federació de Fogueres, David Olivares, the Bellea del Foc, Alba Muñoz, the Mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, the Councillor for Security, Julio Calero, and the Sub-delegate of the Government in Alicante, Juan Antonio Nieves, among other officials. Two helicopters, one of which was medicalised, two ambulances, and basic life support (SVB) were sent to the scene. Additionally present were firefighters from the Prevention, Extinction of Fires and Rescue Service (Speis) of Alicante and the Provincial Consortium of the Diputación, who used a drone to collect more accurate data on the explosion’s consequences.

To keep the fire from spreading to the location where the fireworks were being made, which is across the workshop’s central courtyard, firefighters have roped off the area.

The Fire Brigade has requested a temporary suspension of the Alicante-Madrid AVE line since the explosion caused some pyrotechnics to fly onto the railway lines. Train traffic had returned at 3:25 p.m.

As a show of unity, the Federació de Fogueres has halted all celebrations this Thursday and Friday. Additionally, the festive organisation has expressed the institutional aim of the Bellesses del Foc and their Dames d’Honor. David Olivares, the president, has visited Fontcalent to personally observe the dire circumstances.

Over 100 emergency workers participated in the effort, which illustrates the tragedy’s scope.

See the earlier story here https://costablancadaily.com/2025/03/06/a-fire-at-a-pyrotechnics-factory-injures-two/