A large fire hit a hotel building in the city of Málaga, in the coastal region of southern Spain, six days ago. Rescue teams have been working at the Ibis Málaga City Center Hotel and Le Grand Café, under continuous combat and aftermath operations since the early hours of Monday (25).
This Saturday (30), the flames gained strength again and required new lockdowns throughout the region, with the reinforcement of teams and equipment to combat the flames.
The fire started on Monday in the cafe located on the ground floor of the building and spread to the hotel. The alarms were activated, the self-protection plan came into force and around 100 guests were evacuated, with no injuries reported.
On Tuesday (26), the flames gained strength again in the afternoon, repeating the pattern from the day before, according to a report published by ABC de Sevilla. The newspaper reported that, after more than 70 hours of work, firefighters were concentrating on internal cooling, with the possibility of occasional smoke emissions in the following days, and that the Scientific Police had begun work to determine the causes.
A first technical inspection by the Municipal Urban Planning Management, carried out with support from the Fire Department, classified the fire as controlled and practically extinguished during the week and the cleaning of areas of the structure began.
On Friday (29), however, more than 100 hours after the start of the incident, the fire was still not completely extinguished, with embers consuming materials in internal areas.
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According to the Andalusian Firefighters Union, there was no immediate danger, but the situation was far from being under control: “This could stay on fire for a long time, there are still rooms smoking.” Linings and wooden elements on the floor slabs of the houses made it difficult for flame-fighting work to progress inside the building.
According to authorities, the risk of internal collapse limited the use of thermal cameras inside the building and led to the predominance of external combat. A firefighter ended up hanging when part of the floor gave way on one of the upper slabs, an event that precipitated a change in tactics.
Throughout the week, firefighters discharged more than five thousand liters of water per minute to contain the flames, which crossed the hotel’s four floors and reached the roof.
