There are almost 40 merchants affected by the fire registered in the November 4 market, located in the third ring road of the Santa Cruz capital. Several of them they lost everything they invested for three decades and now, faced with the impotence of seeing their efforts reduced to ashes, they cry and console themselves, while digging through the rubble in the hope of finding remains of merchandise that can be salvaged.
“A lifetime of effort has been wasted, all the machinery has burned, everything was unusable“said Francisca Ticoca, a seamstress who has worked for 29 years in this Santa Cruz market.
The merchants searched among its rubble for remains of merchandise/Photo Juan Carlos Torrejón
“I could not rescue anything because the fire was strong, I found out about the fire at 11 pm (on Tuesday)my five sewing machines burned. I still had work to deliver and they already called me, but everything burned down, it wasn’t my fault,” the woman said disconsolately.
Jorge is another seamstress who also lost his entire business where he had been working for eight years. “The effort of so many years came to nothing, unfortunately everything was lost, my industrial sewing machines are now just waste, there is nothing to recover because they are no longer in good condition,” he lamented.
According to the person affected, the night of the fire he received a call when he was about to sleep. Thus he found out that the fire was devouring the market November 4 and that his position was one of those being consumed. “We came to see the fire, but we couldn’t recover anything,” he reiterated, estimating the economic losses suffered by his machinery alone at more than Bs 20,000.
For her part, market president Katy Herbas Ledezma indicated that 17 stalls were completely burned and another 15 partially. In other words, 40% of the place was affected by the flames and the total losses are still being evaluated.
“There are about 32 people affected because the fire it spread very fast. The fire started in the sector ahead, where they sold insecticides, bleach and flammable things, that’s why it spread quickly,” explained the leader.
Short circuit caused the accident
Tuesday night seven fire engines worked for nine hours to control the flames. The emergency units that carried out the constant work are from the Police, the Mayor’s Office of the Urban Fire and Rescue Unit (UUBR) and Urban Rescue.
Álvaro Castillo, UUBR commander, reported that they went to the scene at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday and that the work extended until 8:00 in the morning this Wednesday. He reported that between 30 and 40% of the market stalls were affected by the fire.
40% of the market was affected and several stalls collapsed/Photo Juan Carlos Torrejón
“When we arrived at the site, there were already quite a few compromised areas. In the first hour of the fire, our task was to contain the advance of the fire, from the following hour it was extinction so that it does not spread. At 4:00 the fire was extinguished and from 5:00 the heaviest task was done, which is cooling and removal,” Castillo explained.
Once the fire had cooled down and was liquidated, at 8:00 a.m. the task was concluded. “It was about nine hours of work, with a contingent of seven fire trucks and 60 mobilized firefighters,” he said.
For his part, the commander of the Rescate Urbano foundation, Hugo Vargas, indicated that preliminary it was established that the cause of the accident is a possible short circuitwhich was registered in the sector of the seamstresses of the 4 de Noviembre market.
Vargas explained that the investigations of the fire continue and are in the hands of the Police, whos They must assess the damage to the infrastructure of the place and corroborate if the first hypothesis of short circuit was the true cause.
There are almost 40 merchants affected by the fire registered in the November 4 market, located in the third ring road of the Santa Cruz capital. Several of them they lost everything they invested for three decades and now, faced with the impotence of seeing their efforts reduced to ashes, they cry and console themselves, while digging through the rubble in the hope of finding remains of merchandise that can be salvaged.
“A lifetime of effort has been wasted, all the machinery has burned, everything was unusable“said Francisca Ticoca, a seamstress who has worked for 29 years in this Santa Cruz market.
The merchants searched among its rubble for remains of merchandise/Photo Juan Carlos Torrejón
“I could not rescue anything because the fire was strong, I found out about the fire at 11 pm (on Tuesday)my five sewing machines burned. I still had work to deliver and they already called me, but everything burned down, it wasn’t my fault,” the woman said disconsolately.
Jorge is another seamstress who also lost his entire business where he had been working for eight years. “The effort of so many years came to nothing, unfortunately everything was lost, my industrial sewing machines are now just waste, there is nothing to recover because they are no longer in good condition,” he lamented.
According to the person affected, the night of the fire he received a call when he was about to sleep. Thus he found out that the fire was devouring the market November 4 and that his position was one of those being consumed. “We came to see the fire, but we couldn’t recover anything,” he reiterated, estimating the economic losses suffered by his machinery alone at more than Bs 20,000.
For her part, market president Katy Herbas Ledezma indicated that 17 stalls were completely burned and another 15 partially. In other words, 40% of the place was affected by the flames and the total losses are still being evaluated.
“There are about 32 people affected because the fire it spread very fast. The fire started in the sector ahead, where they sold insecticides, bleach and flammable things, that’s why it spread quickly,” explained the leader.
Short circuit caused the accident
Tuesday night seven fire engines worked for nine hours to control the flames. The emergency units that carried out the constant work are from the Police, the Mayor’s Office of the Urban Fire and Rescue Unit (UUBR) and Urban Rescue.
Álvaro Castillo, UUBR commander, reported that they went to the scene at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday and that the work extended until 8:00 in the morning this Wednesday. He reported that between 30 and 40% of the market stalls were affected by the fire.
40% of the market was affected and several stalls collapsed/Photo Juan Carlos Torrejón
“When we arrived at the site, there were already quite a few compromised areas. In the first hour of the fire, our task was to contain the advance of the fire, from the following hour it was extinction so that it does not spread. At 4:00 the fire was extinguished and from 5:00 the heaviest task was done, which is cooling and removal,” Castillo explained.
Once the fire had cooled down and was liquidated, at 8:00 a.m. the task was concluded. “It was about nine hours of work, with a contingent of seven fire trucks and 60 mobilized firefighters,” he said.
For his part, the commander of the Rescate Urbano foundation, Hugo Vargas, indicated that preliminary it was established that the cause of the accident is a possible short circuitwhich was registered in the sector of the seamstresses of the 4 de Noviembre market.
Vargas explained that the investigations of the fire continue and are in the hands of the Police, whos They must assess the damage to the infrastructure of the place and corroborate if the first hypothesis of short circuit was the true cause.
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