The Ayuso Government threatens legal action against 60 forest firefighters who have decided to fight fires on their own

The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has announced that it will study possible administrative and legal measures against some 60 striking forest firefighters who have decided to go to the parks on their own to participate in the fight against the fires ravaging the Sierra Oeste of Madrid.

The workers communicated their decision this Friday after denouncing "the lack of orders and means these days from the DGE and the head of Emergencies 112 Community of Madrid". Given the seriousness of the situation and the need to protect the population, they explained, they would go to the parks "on their own" to act.

The Community's reaction came shortly after through a harsh statement. The regional Executive accuses the group of maintaining a "blackmail strategy" to condition the organization of the operation and convey a distorted image of the work of the emergency services.

The document considers that the actions of these workers may have compromised public service, hindered the operation of the device, or endangered people and natural heritage. The Community will now study "all administrative and legal avenues that are appropriate to determine responsibilities."

Two opposing versions on the lack of resources

The immediate origin of the conflict lies in the situation of these workers since the beginning of the campaign. The strike committee assures that it has been formally requesting their activation since July 16, as well as vehicles and tools to attend to the fires, without having received a response.

According to a spokesperson for the collective explained to 'La Vanguardia', the workers remained at the General Directorate of Emergencies in Las Rozas because the Administration had not provided them with the necessary means to join the parks. The minimum services set during the strike reach 80%.

The Community offers a completely different version. It maintains that the personnel know their destinations and the established procedures for the 2026 campaign, a system that has been operating for more than 25 years, and assures that each worker voluntarily accepted both their contract and the award act for the position.

The Madrid Executive states that resources are activated from the assigned parks and detachments and accuses the group of remaining in Las Rozas instead of going to their bases. Presenting this situation as a lack of means or a refusal to mobilize them means, according to the statement, "altering reality and generating social alarm."

The dispute affects a specific group of INFOMA public labor personnel. The Community speaks of 60 workers within a collective of 2,100 professionals and reminds that the complete device mobilizes more than 6,000 professionals and volunteers. The information published on Thursday placed the number of forest firefighters in this unit at 61.

More than three years of strike

The labor conflict began more than three years ago. Public forest firefighters exceeded 1,145 days of indefinite strike at the beginning of July.

Their main demands include working throughout the year, obtaining professional recognition as forest firefighters, and applying the Basic Law approved in 2024. They also demand recognition of the dangerousness of their activity and occupational diseases linked to exposure to smoke and other carcinogenic agents.

Conversations with the Community remain blocked. The regional Executive assures that it has offered economic improvements and proposals adjusted to the legal framework, while workers denounce that different ministries have been shifting responsibility for years without resolving the conflict.

The threat of possible measures comes during the worst known fire episode in the Community of Madrid. More than 45,000 people have been evacuated or confined and the head of the large front advancing through the Sierra Oeste is "beyond extinction capacity." Emergency services are already working on defense lines to prevent the flames from reaching El Escorial and San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

The 60 firefighters have announced that they will travel to the stations by their own means to act. The Community has not yet specified what files or legal actions it will promote or against how many workers they could be directed.