San Juan celebrations cause 156 emergency incidents and out-of-control fires across Murcia
There were more than 80 calls to emergency responders for fires last night
Last night, Sunday June 23, was San Juan Night in Spain, when fireworks are let off and bonfires lit on the beaches to celebrate the start of summer and the Catholic Feast of Saint John the Baptist.
The aim of lighting bonfires on San Juan Night is to purify the old through the flames and expel bad omens in order to make way for new opportunities, according to tradition.
But for all the revelry, there were some unfortunate incidents caused by the celebrations, mainly fires that got out of control, bringing bad omens themselves, just at the start of Spain’s wildfire high season.
Spain’s bonfire night 2024 meant that police and fire crews in the Region of Murcia were called out to over 150 incidents. Between 10pm and 7am on Monday morning, the Emergency Coordination Centre handled a total of 156 emergency calls.
Most of the matters handled during the night and early hours of this Sunday into Monday were for fires, with 81 separate incidents.
This was followed by ‘public safety-public disorder’ (23) and ‘container fire’ (17).
By municipalities, those that recorded the highest number of incidents were Cartagena (73) and the city of Murcia (44).
In Cartagena, there were container fires in Los Dolores, Santa Lucía, Molinos Marfagones, El Algar, Santa Lucía, Santa Ana, San Antón, José María Lapuerta, Playa Honda, Los Belones, Islas Menores and Cala Flores.
There were also brushfires in the Parque de la Rosa, Nueva Cartagena, El Rosalar, Avenida del Cantón, Los Camachos, Los Patojos, La Vaguada, Los Mateos, la Media Sala, la barriada Virgen de la Caridad and Casas de Clares.
In a separate incident not counted among these, there was a fire in a parcel of scrubland in the Port of Mazarrón before the San Juan celebrations even started.
Thankfully, none of the emergency situations had “serious consequences,” according to the Emergency Coordination Centre, and emergency responders were able to handle all the fires with relative ease.
In fact, this year’s figure is slightly lower than last year’s, when 165 San Juan incidents were recorded.
Image: @112rmurcia
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