A firewhich began in a warehouse that functioned as a depot for trucks transporting fuel oils, caused serious material damage in a community of Mendoza, because the flames spread to several houses and vehicles that were in the area. Although there were no injuries, authorities reported that the closest neighbors had to be evacuated due to the magnitude of the incident.
The incident occurred around 7 p.m. on Friday when several sounds of explosions were reported in the building of the Juan Carlos Bustos company, located in the town of CoquimbitoDepartment of Maipu. The fire would have started in two of the trucks that were stored in the warehouse, until it began to spread to the rest of the surface.
The neighbors realized what had happened due to the noises and the column of smoke that began to be seen, so they alerted the emergency services about the incident. However, the flames would have advanced quickly towards the neighboring home, because the vehicles stored fuel inside.
According to information published by Diary Onethe Volunteer Firefighters of Guaymallén and Maipú, despite the fact that they had to request water reinforcements from nearby detachments, because the fire reached an average height of between 2 and 3 meters. In addition, the agents had to resort to using special foam for fires, after the outbreak expanded.
In parallel, various effects of Mendoza Police They mounted a security operation by blocking the streets in a radius of 200 meters around the incident to prevent the lives of citizens from being endangered. Finally, the flames were controlled around 9 p.m., so the rest of the work was concentrated on cooling the remains.
At the moment, it has not been established what the origin of the fire would have been, however, from the local media MDZ They highlighted that the damage it caused affected the two trucks that loaded the fuel oil, another vehicle that was inside the building, and two private Chevy and Peugeot cars. Likewise, two neighboring houses also suffered collateral damage, but what type of losses were not specified.
For his part, the main officer Christian Knight reported in an interview for the news Channel Nine Mendoza that “the situation is already under control. “We have had the support of firefighters from the Central Headquarters, Volunteer Firefighters from Luján de Cuyo, Maipú and Guaymallén.” Likewise, he pointed out: “We did not suffer major damage to the homes, nor to the surrounding properties.”
“A great effort has been made by all crews to quickly suffocate it with different materials to achieve this. It is complicated by the oil, but the situation is under control,” the fire chief reiterated, indicating that at least six trucks were put into operation to put out the fire. He even anticipated that tests will be carried out at the scene to determine the causes of the accident.
In parallel, the firefighter Ruben Ochoa He explained that the situation became complex because “the oil raises a lot of temperature. You have to use foam, it cannot be extinguished with water.”
Regarding the residents of the area who had to be evacuated, the agent reported that they would be able to return to their homes once the operation is finished. In the same way, he pointed out that the damage has not yet been fully accounted for, because there were areas that remained to be extinct although it would be expected that the portion consumed would be large due to the size of the cargo trucks.
