A fire of great proportions broke out this morning in the Bariloche Center building -located 50 meters from the bus station– with the balance of at least 50 people hospitalized for conditions of different considerations -four of them seriously- and some 900 evacuated, according to official sources.
The fire started around 4:25 p.m.e this Sunday in that apartment complex located in Saint Martin 127a few meters from the Civic Center of the mountain city and around 7:30 the flames were finally controlled, although during this noon the cooling tasks continued.
“The fire affected a business on the ground floor and quickly spread to the upper floors., leaving several people trapped and affected by smoke inhalation. The task of controlling the flames demanded more than three hours, “said the police report.
The point of origin would have been in a jacket store and the reason would have been an electrical fault.
Some 900 residents and tourists staying at the site had to be evacuated, while another 50 were transferred to different hospitals in the city due to respiratory conditions suffered due to smoke inhalation.
According to information emanating from the Civil Protection Directorate of the Municipality of Bariloche, the most seriously affected are two people who remain hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Ramón Carrillo Zonal Hospital of Bariloche and two others treated in identical service but from the Regional Private Hospital. In all four cases, they are “intubated patients with airway compromise.”
Another 11 people are receiving “carbon monoxide inhalation oxygen therapy” between both hospitals, where patients with “cuts due to broken glass” also arrived.
Volunteer firefighters from the Centro, Ruca Cura, Melipal, Dina Huapi and Cerro Campanario barracks worked at the scene. In addition to police officers from all the units belonging to the Third Regional Unit, personnel from the Forest Fire Prevention and Fighting Service (Splif) of Bariloche, Civil Protection and Public Health participated in the tasks of fire control and evacuation of the property. .
Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Río Negro reported that it took part in the matter, beginning an investigation to determine what happened. “The chief prosecutor Martín Lozada, the prosecutor Silvia Paolini and the deputy prosecutor Facundo D’Apice were constituted in the place in order to instruct the performance of various procedures that allow the collection of necessary information,” he said.
He added that “in the next few hours, once the temperature conditions allow it and the firefighters consider the task finished, the corresponding expert reports will be worked on. These will be carried out with an expert specialized in the subject, Criminalistics and the Operative Unit of the Public Ministry”.
The Bariloche Center is a building of “studios with a view of the lake and the hills” intended for tourists, as described on its website.
The real estate development “offers fully equipped apartments”, but also has a “commercial gallery” where there is a restaurant with delivery, a kiosk, a bakery, hairdressers and a laundry room.”
