After 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, September 7, a fire broke out in an apartment on the 11th floor of a building located at Libertador 1664, corner of Galicia, Montevideo. Upon the arrival of the first crew, which was dispatched from the Centro Cordón Detachment, the fire was spreading, with a large concentration of smoke, and there were residents who had to be evacuated. Due to this, support, a rescue car, a tanker, an ambulance and a hydraulic ladder were dispatched to the scene. The first crew concentrated their work on extinguishing the fire, while the support staff worked on evacuating people.
The building was already being evacuated before the firefighters arrived, in any case, 13 people were assisted in the evacuation, of which 7 must have been rescued to the roof, and then descended to the ground floor through the adjoining building, 6 were assisted in the place by different ambulance teams, while only a 61-year-old female with a diagnosis of moderate carbon monoxide poisoning was transferred.
The body of an 86-year-old woman who died at the scene was located in the damaged apartment. The fire partially affected other adjoining apartments, where the fire spread through the window. Floors 10, 11 and 12 will not be able to be used until there are risk control actions in it, reported Andrés Fernández, director of Building Safety of the Municipality of Montevideoand indicated that there is “structural damage to the slab between floors 11 and 12.”
The other floors can be inhabited, although “it may be that 13 and 14, due to operational issues, the entry will be delayed. But the issue is already in the hands of the Administration and the technicians it appointed”, he added.
Staff from the Scientific Police and Fire Departments worked at the scene, and carried out a series of actions in order to determine the origin of the fire. Architects from the Montevideo administration also worked for the purpose of assessing risks in the structure.
