Spanish firefighter fired after filling swimming pool with water from fire engine

A firefighter in southern Spain has been dismissed after using a fire engine to fill up his private swimming pool.

As much of the country swelters in temperatures well above 30C for several weeks, Juan Pimentel, a veteran of 30 years with the Andalusia fire brigade, has been sacked for what officials described as a “very serious” indiscretion.

The authorities acted after receiving an anonymous tip off, which indicated that Mr Pimentel had used the water in a fire engine to fill up the pool at his house in Ronda, near Málaga. “The same day we received the letter, we also heard rumours that Pimentel was using water from a fire truck to fill his pool,” Manuel Marmolejo, head of the Málaga provincial fire department, told El Pais newspaper.

Mr Pimentel was interviewed about the matter and later fired. The fire department said that, over several days, he had used the engine to fill his pool five times.

Mr Pimentel said that he was being unfairly treated and that he was not, in fact, trying to steal the water. “I am being hung out to dry for this,” he told El Pais, apparently without irony. “And discredited after a lifetime of service that is beyond reproach.”

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Photo by Tupolev und seine Kamera