Spain - Fire Ravages Skyscraper in Madrid

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Madrid's Biggest Fire Destroys Skyscraper

Reuters
February 13, 2005

MADRID (Reuters) - The biggest fire in Madrid's history gutted a 32-storey skyscraper in the Spanish capital's financial district Sunday, causing no injuries, but the tower stayed upright despite fears of collapse.

More than 200 firefighters worked all night to quell the spectacular blaze in the Windsor building, the city's eighth tallest tower, which authorities said was probably started by an electrical short-circuit.

"We have confronted the most extensive fire that this city has ever had," Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon said.

Seven firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation.

The flames had died down by Sunday afternoon, but acrid black smoke continued to pour from the building. Officials said there was still a risk the skyscraper -- now reduced to a blackened concrete skeleton -- could collapse.

"You can't say there is total certainty that it won't fall down," Javier Sanz, fire chief for the Madrid region, told local television.

At its peak, the fire lit up the Madrid sky like a huge torch. Flames devoured the 106-meter-high building from the top down, raining debris on to the street below. Surrounding buildings were evacuated and roads blocked.

Officials said a short circuit was the probable cause of the blaze which began on the 21st floor late Saturday night.

The building, which houses the offices of U.S. accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, was completed in 1979.

Streets, shops and offices in the area and some sections of the Metro network will remain closed until officials are sure the building is safe, Mayor Ruiz Gallardon said.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero visited the scene and offered the government's support to local authorities "so that we can overcome this situation as soon as possible and life in this area can get back to normal."

The blazing tower evoked memories for many Spaniards of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

It was the second drama to strike Madrid in less than a week, after armed Basque separatists ETA detonated a bomb near a major conference center Wednesday, wounding 43 people. Madrid is vying with four other cities to host the 2012 Olympic Games.



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