Building under construction affected by fire has no risk of collapsing; 52 properties were vacated | Pernambuco

The building under construction that caught fire on Thursday (28), in Recife, is not at risk of collapsing, according to the city hall. This Friday morning (29), engineers from Construtora Carrilho carried out an inspection of the Botanik Building together with the city’s Civil Defense and the Fire Department, shortly after eliminating any remaining fires on the site.

Since Thursday night, the Fire Department has isolated a perimeter of approximately 300 meters around the Botanik Building, and residents and traders had to leave the 52 properties, residential and commercial, that are in the surrounding area. They should only be able to return at the end of the day. Traffic and power supply were also interrupted.

The Botanik Building has 28 floors and is located in the Torre neighborhood, West Zone of Recife, on the corner between Padre Anchieta and Real da Torre streets. The inspection started at 8am and ended around 10am.

According to Anderson Soares, head of the Recife Operations Center, the need for demolition of any structure was not verified, and the inspection found no risk of collapse.

“At the moment, we also have not assessed that there is this risk [de desabamento], but the company is already taking ownership of it. There’s one of her mechanical engineers up there all the time, assessing the risk,” she declared.

He also stated that an action plan has been put together so that the streets are cleared and daily life returns to normal around the building.

“First, [a empresa deve] remove everything that is risk material, from falling, that is on top, on the top floors. In other words, remove this material so that it doesn’t fall over. Second, remove that tray, that loose element there, and then install a safety screen. Finally, remove the zinc sheets from there as well. Once this is done, we guarantee the safety of the area and can return more safely to the normality of the surrounding area,” he said.

Around 11 am, the first road was closed: Rua Antônio Vieira, which is almost in front of the building that caught fire. Some roads also had the power grid turned back on.

Anderson Soares also said that the area around the building is expected to be completely unblocked by the end of this Friday. However, rain is forecast, and this could affect the schedule.

“Naturally, we are subject to any complications. I have rain forecast for today, so all of this will affect our schedule. We will be here all the time monitoring. Everything happening under normal temperature conditions and pressure, everyone is going home today”, he said.

The fire was concentrated on the highest floors of the structure (see video below). The top three floors of the building were supported with wooden logs, and this may have favored the spread of the fire. Furthermore, the work’s warehouse, which was on the ground floor, was destroyed, because burning material fell and hit papers and wood that were stored.

Fire hits building under construction in the West Zone of Recife

In a note, Construtora Carrilho said that, on the recommendation of the responsible bodies, it is removing the protective trays from the upper floors “so that normality in the surroundings can be established”.

He also said that he preserved the condition of the materials for an inspection to be carried out by the Institute of Criminalistics (IC), “so that the causes of the fire can be identified”. Finally, the company said it is in contact with customers to resolve any questions about the incident.

Firefighters were called to fight the flames at 8:05 pm. At around 9:30 pm, it started to rain, which helped reduce the intensity of the flames.

Firefighters had difficulty controlling the fire because the building is 84 meters high and was still under construction, with no hydraulic system completed.

The fire was controlled around 11:30 pm, but the corporation continued to fight small fires and monitor the situation of the structure until 10 am this Friday.

As a precaution, firefighters isolated a radius extending up to 150 meters around each side of the building, which is equivalent to around 300 meters in diameter.