Just happening now, horrible!!

That is really bad ! What building is that? I recognize the department store but not that building. Any word on the people inside?

Gracias pinofas !

MY GOD!! I JUST NOW happen to see a large, wide pipe of smoke AND what appeared to be fire on the Madrid Skyline Webcam @ http://www.avendano.org/webcam.html


On the above site, there you'll see some photos taken by Luis Avedano from the position of the webcam.



Another spectacular photo @ http://estaticos.elmundo.es/fotografia/2005/02/incendio_windsor/img/inc3.jpg

This is the office building engulfed in fire
" Edificio Windsor"

Noone has been killed and there have been 5 firemen injured (by smoke inhalation).

The building was empty because it is an office building. The nearby big stores (El Corte Inglés - Castellana) was closed (the fire started at 12 PM) and was also empty. Other nearby buildings have been emptied (most were office buildings).

Danger now is for emergency teams, and if the building collapse things can get pretty caotic (there are subway and railway lines, a tunnel, parkings and important buildings nearby).

I hope everything ends well!

Fernando

CHAT WITH US NOW about the fire (or anything else). SEVEN of us in there now.

(originally posted by desert dweller on 02-12-2005 11:43 PM)

Just now heard on the BBC about the fire in Madrid tonight. The photos on the photos section of MM web site are great. Some of you in Madrid fill us in as to what happened. The BBC did not mention any injuries or deaths, and it possibly started in an electrical box.
--------------------
Phantom Man

Here's what I know so far about the fire (some of you already know this from chatting):

The fire started somewhere between 11:30 and 12, Spanish time, on the 21st floor. They have been doing construction on the building for a year, and they suspect that the fire could be due to this, like an electrical fire or something. There is a crane on top of the building, 70 meters tall, which is melting/has melted. The 17th floor is built to be a fire preventative floor, and the firemen have re-inforced it with foam that prevents fires. However, the other fire prevention systems are not working in the building. As Fernando said, there are 5 firemen injured, but no one has died. They have evacuated everyone within a 1 mile radius of the building. There is an El Corte Inglés beside the building, as well as many shops, such as Zara, H&M, Starbucks, Mango, etc. (It is the Nuevos Ministerios district for anyone who doesn't know the area.) People are also asked to shut their windows and put wet towels in the cracks to prevent potentinally toxic smoke from coming into their homes. Firemen are also trying to prevent the fire from spreading by spraying water on the surrounding buildings. Let's all hope it doesn't get any more out of control!

Oh, there are also 3 metro lines closed, although I am not sure for how long or which ones exactly.

I heard the sirens during the night, but didn't pay much attention. When we got up at 9:00 am, we could see the column of smoke rising. Looking from our front balcony we can see the building is now nothing more than a skeleton. Scary after seeing the posting above! Still at little smoke just after noon and the tunnel under Plaza Republica Agentina for Joaquin Costa is still closed off. From the reports this is going to continue to be a problem. I believe there has been renovation going on in the building for a couple months now.

Metro line disruptions would be those going through Nuevos Ministerios and Cuatro Caminos.

There is still smoke on the skyline as can be seen with the Madrid Skyline Webcam at
Madrid Skyline

Canal Sur Web carries an article in Spanish and more images at:
Canal Sur Web

There is some video footage on the CNN News Web Site

Saludos
Robbieroy

Last news are that the building continues burning at the first floors, and collapse is still a possibility, though it may not collpase too.




Seven firemen have been injured by smoke, but they are all ok. Noone has died so far (cross your fingers if the building falls!).

The zone is going to be closed for the next 5 days to avoid personal risks.

Fernando

The fire was 2 minutes walking from my house and I went to see at around 4.00. It was a huge fire and the whole night we have had helikoptera en BOEM sounds. This morning when I got the news paper it was still smoking and copletly burned out. realy shocking.

If five fire fighters were injured and will recover, no one died, then it is no big deal. Everything else can be replaced, and rebuilt. Obviously, Madrid has a first class fire department.

You are right DD, our emergency teams are really superb.

Some people say that this will end Madrid's chances of getting the Olympiads. I think that this is a clear demonstration on how to manage a critical accident, along with the bomb alert in Real Madrid's Stadium (evacuated in 5 minutes with noone injured), the last ETA bomb (40 injured, all lightly) and 11-M (as grave as it was, emergency teams excelled in their performance to minimize injuries and avoid more deaths).

Of course, Olympiads mean nothing compared to a single life, but we can really be calm with our emergency services (firemen, policemne, healthcare,...).

Oh... the building has not collapsed, the fire is controlled, but the next 48 hours are critical because when the structure gets colder it may break.

Fernando

This is amazing...but wonderful that no one's been killed or even seriously injured. I've been watching the coverage all day on TV and its rather eery to see how some of the pictures shown of the building closely resemble some of the pictures seen post- 9/11 (charred shell of a building).

I was amazed to hear about this fire when I woke up this morning, because I had just been out with my friends in Rios Rosas last night and hadn't noticed any commotion at all (no sirens or anything...)It wasn't until I was on the Metro on my way to church that I started heard about the closings on the metro due to "last night's fire" (I believe it was Lineas 1,6, and 8)

Excellent points, Fernando. Disasters and emergencies can occur anywhere, it's how they are handled that makes all the difference.

If anything, the competent handling of this fire would tend to signify that Madrid is ready for anything.

Fernando: I think you are not looking at this in the correct light. If anything this should improve Madrid's chance to get the Olympics. It proves to the world that Madrid has a first class emergancy respose force. To have come through something like this without one fatality. It speaks volumes for the Madird Fire Department.

My question for you Fernando is, the papers and news sites have been saying that the building was vacant for renovation. Do the Madrid building authorities order the occupants to vacate a building when it is to under go renovation? Here in the US when a building is to be renovated the occupants "keep business as usual." There is a 25 story building here in Phoenix that my wife worked in, and they had it tore up for about two years while the remodle job was being done, the business occupants never missed a beat. Rather messy and inconvienant, but did not have to move out.

It was not vacant for the renovations, it was vacant because it was Saturday night. Rest of thw week it was fully inhabited, everyone working as usual.
That's the worrying thing, had it been 1PM on monday, and hundreds could have DIED. The fire extinction systems didn't work!
And I agree with Fernando, this doesn't give me good feelings about M2012, it's been a sad week just after the Olympic comitee departed, a bombing and a huge fire... we don't feel very confident.

As deibid says, the only reason this wasn't an awful awful disaster was the timing of the fire - middle of the night. Deloitte offices were housed in something like 20 of the 25 floors in the Winsdor building.

I can't imagine an inferno like what I've seen on the webcams and the news and not having multiple injuries - the Madrid fire department and emergency teams are, as they have proved so often, first rate.

Frightening that it will take a week to cool off enough for - I suppose - removal of the remains. That's paraphrasing BBC and CNN - and If I misinterpreted that statement - I apolgize in advance. I assume the entire building will be razed - All news reports now say the immenent danger of collapse is past -

Regardless, thank God no one was killed and those injured will recovery.

Deibid has answered for me

Offices were empty because in saturday nights only security personel work. It seems extinction and detection systems failed.

However, if this had happened in working days, the fire would have been detected very quickly, and it would probably have been extinguished inmediately. Obviously moving hundreds of persons to evacuate a building is always risky, so we don't know what would have happened.

Anyway, I still think this time emergency teams and authorities have done their job well.

Fernando

I have seen the fire outside. It was around the corner of my house and I wondered what would have happend on a monday. The fire went so quick it was shocking. Afcourse it would be detected on time but still I saw windows got in extreme fire minute after minute. And what happens if the peoplem above the 21 first floor can't get down.

The building is so stucked between other that it's hard to reach. In Amsterdam (where I come from) but i think also in a lot of other cities there is a space problem so every hole between building is filled. But what if something like that happens in a appartment building pffffffffff.

The arrea will be clossed till wendsday. The coming 48 hours (now 24) the building could still collapse because the iron is getting cold and that could couse collapsing. I wondefr how they are going to break that down?

And now, Here's the Windsor Building - or what's left of it. Read the article at Madridiario here .

Saludos, MadridMan

I was there yesterday and it's amazing how the building has been totally dismantled.
Now they are working hard to reopen the big avenue (Raimundo Fernandez Villaverde) in Sept. 1.