A spectacular fire broke out this afternoon inside the
'Frutas Escobar' fruit and
vegetable center
,
near
Mérida,
specifically at km. 348 of the
Madrid-Lisbon highway.
The fire, which was generated between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., forced the
eviction of nearly 300 workers
who were at the company headquarters at the time, where seasonal fruit was stored -on plastic pallets. , which has expanded very quickly, forming a great column of smoke that has been seen from various locations in the province of
Badajoz.
According to the first calculations, more than
5 million kilos of fruit
could have been
lost
and the origin could have been a short circuit in one of the factory's machines, which is located between Mérida and the neighboring towns of
Calamonte
and
Arroyo de San Serván .
The manager of the fruit and vegetable center,
Natalio Caballero,
explained to
Canal Extremadura Radio
that they initially tried to put out the fire with fire extinguishers by their own means, but it was not possible because it spread very quickly inside the central warehouse of the company: "What is clear is that there will be nothing left, and there were five or six million kilos of fruit inside, which is already all melted."
The danger due to the presence of flammable and combustible liquids has caused the rapid evacuation of workers who were inside the warehouses at that time.
In this sense,
Juan Carlos Bermejo,
head of the Mérida fire station, explained that fire is very dangerous due to the presence of
hydrogen peroxide,
a very harmful chemical compound.
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At the end of this news, a coordination meeting was being held to evaluate the way of working to end the fire. Under the terms, it could still take several hours for you to control it. It has been reported that more than 30 personnel from seven fire stations of the
Badajoz Provincial Council will
work during the night
.
In addition, it has been confirmed that there is no need to regret personal injury or relevant health interventions.
Due to the expectation created in the area, the
112 Emergency Service
has asked the population "great caution" and that citizens do not approach the area of the incident "to let the fire extinguishing media work".
Likewise, the Extremadura Red Cross has reported that, with the arrival of sunset, the aerial means that work in the area are withdrawn and the firefighters of the different parks displaced to the place will continue to work.
The
Junta de Extremadura
activated, at 19.50 hours, the
Extremadura Territorial Civil Protection Plan (Platercaex)
due to risks to the population and the isolated buildings near said fire.
Nine firefighting units from the Badajoz County Council are working right now in the extinction, plus its manager and a guard chief;
in addition to a checkpoint and coordinator of
the Infoex Plan, members
of the
Local Police, Civil Guard
and a Civil Protection technician from the Board.
'Frutas Escobar' is a cooperative society founded in 1993 that is dedicated to the wholesale trade of fruits and vegetables.
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