The fire that last Sunday morning destroyed an apartment in Bartomeu Roselló Avenue, in the center of the city of Ibiza, and in which an 89 year old woman, Pilar Torres, died may have originated in the living room, according to preliminary.
Regarding the causes, the investigation is in the hands of the PolicÃa Nacional, which yesterday reported that “in the absence of the definitive results of the report, the Ibiza police station is certain that the fire was accidental”.
The chief sergeant of the Ibiza Island Fire Station, Miguel Sevilla, explained that “the most damaged areas of the home are the living room, where the dividing walss are very affected , and the balcony, which was where the flames were”. The rest of the home was only affected by smoke.
When the mobilized troops, 13 in total, arrived at avenida Bartomeu Roselló they found the premises confined and on fire, where they estimate that the temperature could have reached 750 degrees centigrade, bearing in mind that the aluminium, which was the material used for the exterior carpentry, melts at that temperature.
Damage to the living room and balcony
“These are very high temperatures and there was a lot of fire load. It was, as I say, in the living room and the balcony [where the flames were concentrated], and in the rest of the home there is a smoke line that tells us that the flames did not reach the rest of the house.”
In images, a fire in an apartment in the center of Ibiza Vicent Marà / J.A. Riera
Sevilla pointed out that the characteristics of fires in confined spaces such as apartments depend a lot on the air currents generated inside and the combustible material in the house.
Regarding the damage to other dwellings, such as the above floor, he pointed out that “the behavior of the fire when it comes out through the façade is upwards and here the railing is damaged, but the damage is nothing like balcony of the burned dwelling”. He pointed out that in these types of apartments “the balcony serves as protection” and that the behavior of fire in houses can vary “depending on where the fire occurs, if there is a lot of fuel load, if there is or is not ventilation, by the layout of the house etc. That is why indoor fires are peculiar, there are many factors that influence”.
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