A fire forces more than 400 workers to evacuate from the Dulcesol factory in Gandia, with only two minor injuries due to smoke inhalation

A fire has forced the evacuation and paralysis of the activity of the Vicky Foods-Dulcesol food factory, which occupies practically the entire El Rejolar industrial estate in Gandia (Valencia, 77,916 inhabitants). In the incident, declared shortly after eleven in the morning this Wednesday in one of the 16 production lines of the factory, only two people have had to receive medical attention, both for smoke inhalation, and in the extinguishing work 15 teams from the Valencia Provincial Firefighters Consortiumas confirmed by the emergency information center of the Generalitat Valenciana (CICU). Sources from the Valencian multinational confirm that the security protocol has worked and announce that they are coordinating efforts to resume activity in the next few hours.

The notice arrived at 11:21. A dense column of smoke, visible from the urban center of Gandia and from nearby towns, showed that the flames, fueled by the flour and plastics used to make bread, pastries and industrial pastries, were spreading through the two plants. of the factory, in which about 400 people were working at that time. Five fire crews initially moved to the industrial area, located on Camí Vell d'Oliva, although, an hour later, around 12:30, there were already 15 fire extinguishing teams trying to put out the fire. According to fire department sources, there is no evidence that it was still under control around three in the afternoon.

The eviction of the company's workers has taken place as a precaution, orderly and without incident. An ambulance from the Basic Vital Service (SVB) has treated the two people affected by smoke inhalation. The rest of the staff has remained outside the facilities. At the moment, the origin of the flames is unknown, which, according to the mayor of Gandia, José Manuel Prieto (PSOE), have emerged in machinery called anaconda, dedicated to baking. Once the fire is extinguished, National Police officers will be in charge of the investigation to determine the causes.

Prieto, who went to the command post from which the firefighting operation was organized, assures that the protocols, both of the company and the emergency personnel, “have worked perfectly” and there have been no personal injuries. . Regarding the damage to the factory, the mayor indicates that the flames originated in a very limited area, but that the use of flammable materials and the high temperatures reached by combustion have been able to spread the flames throughout the two plants, although the The work of the firefighters has been able to contain them. “Fortunately, the company plans to resume activity as soon as possible,” he confirms.

Vicky Foods-Dulcesol is a food group founded in 1952 in a small bakery in Villalonga, a town that currently has 4,667 inhabitants. More than seven decades later, the firm has four factories distributed among the Valencian municipalities of Gandia, Xàtiva and Villalonga and in the municipality of Sig, near Oran (Algeria).

“It is a strategic industry not only for Gandia, but also for the entire region of La Safor,” recalls Prieto, “with great importance in the economy of the area, in which it provides work for many of the inhabitants.” Their specialty is confectionery and pastry products, which they export to more than 50 countries, with a business volume, in 2022 data, of 536 million euros in sales and a production of more than 203,000 tons of 350 different products.

According to the information offered by the company, the infrastructure affected by the fire occupies more than 47,000 square meters and employs a staff of more than 850 people. In total, the Gandian factory, opened in the seventies of the last century and the company's headquarters, has 16 work lines, from which products such as croissants, Neapolitans, ensaimadas, anise cakes and sliced ​​bread come out.