The Fire Cluster, CIF Cantabria, inaugurates its new facilities on Paseo del Niño in Torrelavega.
In the presence of the Regional Minister of Industry, Tourism, Innovation, Transport and Commerce of the Government of Cantabria, Javier López Marcano, and with:
“The main objective is to support Cantabrian companies in improving their competitiveness through innovation and internationalisation, and to create a knowledge‑industry hub in Torrelavega focused on fire‑safety engineering.”
According to cluster manager Gemma Ortiz, the full‑scale fire laboratory was inaugurated last Friday, 26 March.
This laboratory is equipped with unique, complementary apparatus for conducting both fire‑resistance and reaction‑to‑fire tests.
Hawke Transit System and Burnetts Hispania, part of the Fernández Jove Group and founding partners and promoters of the initiative, have made their former premises available to the Cluster.
Renovated with support from SODERCAN, they now feature a large‑scale calorimeter—unique within the Spanish university system.
This calorimeter is used to measure variables related to fire phenomena and will soon be joined by a large‑scale fire furnace.
Full‑scale fire laboratory
Attended by the Director‑General of Industry, Daniel Alvear; the Mayor of Torrelavega, Javier López Estrada; the president of CIF, Arsenio Manzanares; and representatives of all cluster partners (the CTC Technology Centre Foundation; SODERCAN; the University of Cantabria; Puertas ROPER; ITM Global; SDS Stop Fuego; and Perlines‑Consulting Insurance).
This centre, unique in Spain, makes Cantabria and its industrial fabric increasingly international, cutting‑edge and better positioned—generating employment and attracting European funds dedicated to innovation and technological development.
Thus Torrelavega now has a project where innovation and research, business and university, and the public and private sectors move forward together, generating knowledge, jobs and competitiveness.
Undoubtedly, it was a day on which the entire teams of Hawke Transit System and Burnetts Hispania, together with the other companies of the Fernández Jove Group, felt proud and ready for the challenges the future holds.