Fire controlled that has forced the evacuation of one of the IRTA buildings at the UAB
The fire started outside the facilities and spread to the offices, but it did not affect the laboratories
BarcelonaThe Generalitat Firefighters have declared the fire affecting the main building of the Animal Health Research Center (CReSA) facilities, belonging to IRTA (Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology) of the UAB, under control. The fire burning the adjacent shed containing straw to feed the animals used for research has also been stabilized. On the contrary, the flames have not affected the laboratories or the biocontainment area, where the animals are located and where the complex's major safety measures are in place to protect biological samples. No one was injured either.
The firefighters received the alert after 3 p.m. and the building has already been evacuated, with no impact on the center's workers. In fact, the building's workers self-evacuated when the fire started and were already outside the facilities when the firefighters arrived. According to the Firefighters, the most plausible hypothesis is that the fire started in some bushes and quickly spread inside the building through the open windows in the office area.
Once the hay barn fire is controlled, the Firefighters' effort is now focused on ensuring that the dense column of fire does not escalate into a forest fire. 15 ground crews from the Firefighters are working on it, and the extinction tasks are expected to last several hours.
The Director General of IRTA, Josep Usall, wanted to convey a message of "calm," assuring that "the good news" is that the fire has not spread beyond the administrative area of the research center, while buildings 1 and 3, which house the animals and biological samples for research, have remained out of the flames' reach.
The firefighters have divided the work into three sectors. On the one hand, the interior of the main laboratory building. Secondly, the interior of one of the adjacent hangars, which contains straw and has completely burned. Finally, they are monitoring secondary hotspots that could spread to the forest mass very close to the research center.