Madrid firefighters had to be rescued after rains proved too much

The exceptional rainfall has hit Spain’s capital and even caught out emergency services when the rescuers needed to be rescued.

On Monday, May 29 in the Mirasierra neighbourhood of Madrid, firefighters were forced to swim across a street and take shelter on the roof of their lorry while responding to issues from serious floods caused by the recent storms, writes 20minutos.

A spokesperson for Emergencias Madrid confirmed that yesterday, in just two hours between 6:30 pm and 8:.30 pm Madrid City Council Firefighters were involved in more than 30 storm-related issues.

Most of the callouts related to floods on public roads, basements and indoor areas, as well as electrical equipment that had become damaged.

In the Mirasierra neighbourhood, firefighters were caught unawares by the rapid rise in the water level in Costa Brava street and had to swim across it, according to Telemadrid, with several people posting images of the event online.

Images show the firefighters safely gathered on the roof of the fire engine, where they apparently had to be rescued by boat.

According to information provided by the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), floodwater caused traffic to be cut off on the A-2 motorway at kilometre 8.5, in both directions.

In Madrid itself, the worst affected part was the Canillejas area, whereas further afield the regions of Alpedrete and Collado Villalba were badly affected, where around twenty callouts were attended to.

Firefighters were left to prioritise the most urgent cases of people reportedly trapped, and threats to critical infrastructure due to the torrential rain that fell in a short period of time, with more than 20 litres per square metre.

Fire brigade supervisor, José Luis Legido explained: ‘We have carried out interventions with drainage and water rescue vehicles.’