Deadly fire in Spain's southern city of Valencia has grim echoes of London Grenfell Tower disaster

The article was posted on February 23, 2024 at 5:09 in the morning EST by CBS/AFP.

In Valencia, Spain, a massive fire burned a 14-story apartment building, leading to at least four fatalities and 14 missing individuals. Officials caution that the number of casualties may increase. According to experts, the building, which had 138 apartments, had dangerous cladding, which was flammable. This could have caused the fast progression of the inferno after it began on the fourth floor on Thursday evening.

The high-rise building in the western Campanar neighborhood of the port city was engulfed by flames. Pictures showed a significant amount of dark smoke rising from the building.

Jorge Suarez Torres, who is the deputy director of emergency services for the Valencia region, informed the media late last night that four individuals have passed away.

Currently, there are 14 individuals who have not been found, as mentioned by regional official Pilar Bernabe on Friday. It's important to note that this number may vary.

The Mayor of Valencia, Maria Jose Catala, had mentioned that there were approximately nine to fifteen people who were missing. This information was obtained from police and local residents.

Fifteen individuals received medical attention for a range of injuries, among them a child aged seven and seven firefighters. On Friday, six of those fifteen were still in hospital, but they were not in a life-threatening condition, according to Carlos Mazon, governor of the region.

Authorities reported that 22 firefighter squads were summoned to combat the inferno. Suarez Torres disclosed that they have yet to gain access to the establishment.

The target for the coming hours is to lower the temperature of the building's exterior," he explained. "We are uncertain of the exact moment when we will gain access to the interior."

According to reports from Spanish news outlets, rescue workers utilized unmanned aerial vehicles to find the corpses of the individuals who lost their lives.

In local reports, Esther Puchades, who is the vice president of Valencia's Industrial Engineers Association (COGITI), stated that the fire spread quickly due to the presence of polyurethane cladding on the building which is known to be highly flammable.

Luis Ibanez, who resides in the vicinity, shared with TVE that he observed fires taking over the structure swiftly after glancing through a window.

"It seemed like it was constructed from cork," he stated. "I was in disbelief when I witnessed that. The complete side of the building opposite to us was ablaze, spanning across six to seven floors, beginning from the first floor."

Many people were afraid that the polyurethane cladding would worsen the Valencia fire which reminded them of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London back in 2017. During that dreadful occurrence, 72 individuals lost their lives to a fire that was started at the 24-story building in West London. Unfortunately, the flames spread very quickly due to the extremely flammable cladding that was on the exterior walls of the building.

The final report of the public inquiry on the London tragedy has not been released yet, but it has already shared information about some companies that produced the materials for the Grenfell cladding. Despite some employees' awareness that these materials were flammable, the companies still claimed that their products were safe.

One of the businesses implicated in the Grenfell Tower disaster was Arconic, an American company that produced the cladding used on the building via a French branch.

The British investigation received emails that revealed some workers at Arconic had knowledge that the cladding utilized on Grenfell could lead to fires, yet they still chose to sell it.

Following the fire incident, Arconic announced that it would discontinue supplying Reynobond PE panels for tall buildings. The company emphasized its inability to regulate the way these panels are installed or used on any building.

In a news release from 2017, the company stated that a cladding system consists of numerous components that are carefully chosen and assembled by architects, contractors, fabricators, and building owners. It is the responsibility of all these parties to ensure that the cladding systems they construct adhere to the necessary codes and regulations.

The manufacturer of the cladding applied to the Spanish residential structure was not known right away.

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