MADRID (Reuters) - An intense fire ravaged a sky scraper in central Madrid on Saturday, causing no injuries but sparking fear the blaze could spread to nearby buildings.
Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon told reporters that with huge pieces of rubble falling off the structure, it was unclear whether the concrete skeleton of the office building would hold.
State radio said the Windsor building, a well known landmark in Madrid, has 32 floors and that 14 have already burned down.
The building was empty when the fire started in the early hours of Saturday.
Large pieces of the building plunged to the ground as the blaze ate through its top floors, sending a column of black smoke into the air. Scores of bystanders watched as the flames lit up the night.
More than a dozen fire engines rushed to the scene, just off Madrid's main thoroughfare the Paseo de la Castellana, but were able to do little to calm the inferno.
"It is impossible for the fire service to put out the fire in the building itself," Gallardon told reporters at the scene.
"We have started to evacuate the area and we are cooling the buildings to stop the fire spreading," he said.
The mayor said the cause of the blaze was unclear but the building was empty when the fire started. No civilians had been injured but three firemen were being treated for smoke inhalation, he said.
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:30 am Posts: 6116 Location: NC
that's really terrible. But not to drag attention from this, but the only thing I could think of while looking at that is that if such an intense fire as that couldn't bring down the main-frame of that building, how are we to expect that the fire at wtc could bring down that entire building? I just don't get it. The Madrid fire looks 100x worse.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:46 pm Posts: 9617 Location: Medford, Oregon Gender: Male
washmykev wrote:
that's really terrible. But not to drag attention from this, but the only thing I could think of while looking at that is that if such an intense fire as that couldn't bring down the main-frame of that building, how are we to expect that the fire at wtc could bring down that entire building? I just don't get it. The Madrid fire looks 100x worse.
Well, by the looks of it, that skyscraper was probably a bit more modern than WTC. That might have had something to do with it. Also, keep in mind that what did in the WTC was all the jet fuel, and the incredible hot fire that it produced, not to mention the impact of a huge jet plane smashing into it. It wasn't just your everyday elecrical fire that took down the WTC, it was much, much more fierce.
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washmykev wrote:
that's really terrible. But not to drag attention from this, but the only thing I could think of while looking at that is that if such an intense fire as that couldn't bring down the main-frame of that building, how are we to expect that the fire at wtc could bring down that entire building? I just don't get it. The Madrid fire looks 100x worse.
Unlike most skyscrapers, the WTC had framework where the bulk of the weight was borne by the steel on the outside of the building. Most buildings have support posts throughout the building every 20 of 30 feet or whatever. In the WTC, there was a central support area (which housed the elevators and stairs and such), and the outside walls, and everything inbetween was a large wide open space with no support posts. This is one of the reasons why when the structure failed on one or a couple of the upper floors, all of the floors fell down upon one another like a flat stack of pancakes or a deck of cards.
--Punkdavid
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Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:52 am Posts: 166 Location: Ejjjjpaña
We're lucky that there is no victims. I've driven my bike to this place in the morning and I just can say that what I've seen is a disaster. I dont know how can the building still stand on by its own.
Engineers are now investigating which has been the reason of the fire and the better way to demolishing the building, because there are houses, shops and offices that surrounds it.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
How was the building completely empty? Even at night, isn't there a cleaning crew? No late working lawyers? Lucking fucking break.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
YouAre GivenToFly wrote:
just_b wrote:
How was the building completely empty? Even at night, isn't there a cleaning crew? No late working lawyers? Lucking fucking break.
considering it was a saturday night...i doubt that there would be anybody around...just my guess
NOBODY? Not even a guard walking around? Some dude that left his cell phone is his office? I smell a conspiracy.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:51 pm Posts: 14534 Location: Mesa,AZ
YouAre GivenToFly wrote:
just_b wrote:
How was the building completely empty? Even at night, isn't there a cleaning crew? No late working lawyers? Lucking fucking break.
considering it was a saturday night...i doubt that there would be anybody around...just my guess
There might have been a few people around. I've been in office buildings on weekends. But if there are only a few people, it'd be pretty easy to get out on time.
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Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
turkey sub jr. wrote:
Don't forget, doesn't Europe have a 30 hour work week or something crazy?
What? They work less AND get to survive office fires? Damn it!
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Last edited by ¡B! on Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:52 am Posts: 166 Location: Ejjjjpaña
turkey sub jr. wrote:
aerojad wrote:
35 hour work week, and that's a German thing for sure, not sure about the rest of the EU
Ah, the Jerries. Europe's Teddy Bears.
Not here in Spain. I'm sure of my 40 hours work week
There were a few people because the above floors of the building were in works. There were some watchman and the warn about the fire, but it started in the higher floors and the firemen could do nothing.
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