Posted on 02/12/2005 6:01:42 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
MADRID, Spain (AP) - A raging fire swept through the upper levels of a 32-story office building in downtown Madrid early Sunday, melting the structure like a candle and collapsing the top six floors in a shower of flaming debris.
TV footage showed bright orange flames shooting out the sides of the Windsor Building, believed to be empty and located near one of Madrid's main boulevards. The fire started around 11:30 p.m. Saturday and was still burning out of control more than two hours later.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.
Firefighters and police evacuated nearby buildings and streets for fear of a total collapse, and emergency service spokesman Javier Ayuso said three firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and exhaustion.
At least nine stories of the upper part of the building were on fire.
The Windsor Building was built in 1973 and is a landmark structure in Madrid's business district. It was surrounded by scaffolding due to recent repairs, Ayuso said.
AP-ES-02-12-05 2041EST
Hopefully there were no people there, since it happened on a Sunday.
Did they say anything about the cause?
this makes it more easy to at least beleive that it may be accidental and not the efforts of terrorists; that said. . .will just have to wait/see.
That's my take on it, too.
At least for now.
The building was empty when the fire started in the early hours of Saturday.
Large pieces of the building plunged to the ground as the blaze ate through its top floors, sending a column of black smoke into the air. Scores of bystanders watched as the flames lit up the night.
More than a dozen fire engines rushed to the scene, just off Madrid's main thoroughfare the Paseo de la Castellana, but were able to do little to calm the inferno.
"It is impossible for the fire service to put out the fire in the building itself," Gallardon told reporters at the scene.
"We have started to evacuate the area and we are cooling the buildings to stop the fire spreading," he said.
The mayor said the cause of the blaze was unclear but the building was empty when the fire started. No civilians had been injured but three firemen were being treated for smoke inhalation, he said.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7610700
State radio said the fire started on the 21st floor.
It breaks my heart. The building is located next to the department store where I used to go shopping when I was a teenager. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo says that the fire was caused by a shortcircuit in the electric system. I wish I could believe it.
Ruh roh...
I used to do fire investigation in the happy long-ago.
In 99 and 94/100ths of all fire cases, "recent repairs" = fire started by uncontrolled heat source, usually welding equipment or a plumber's brazing torch used without a proper heat shield, or a space heater accidentally left on near combustibles.
If you can get at your plumbing in your crawlspace or behind a access hatch, look at all the scorch marks on the framing wherever the plumbers soldered a joint in the copper pipes. They ought to use asbestos sheets for backing, but they never do . . . too much trouble I guess, same reason the electricians use those abominable push connectors in the junction and switch boxes. Occasionally they heat the framing enough for it to smoulder, and bingo - large blazing fire by next morning.
Being a third generation Spanish descendant I visited Spain back in the Eighties. I found it intriguing that in Seville sector after sector of four story 'townhouses' were only occupied on the first floor. The top floors were not. If there is an al-Queada link that's just chickens coming home to roost.
Years back that happened to a high rise in Philly
Lost a number of good firefights
Prayers going out for the saftey of all
One other thought - the fire started Saturday night. I don't know Spanish workers' Saturday work schedule, but my money says they were anxious to get home early on Saturday, somebody forgot to switch something off, and by about 11:30 whatever was smouldering had time to burst into flame.
That fire looks really bad
I don't think you can get that any more, thanks to the plaintiff's bar and asbestoes litigation.
Gee, there sure are a lot of bad things happening in Madrid these days. And they thought they had appeased their way to peace. Now they must grow up.
This from Drudge...
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