The mayor of Milan asked today for answers as to why a fire that started on the 15th floor of an 18-storey residential building engulfed the entire block and melted the exterior insulation, similar to the tragedy with the Grenfell Tower in London, which killed 71 people.
The signal was received on Sunday afternoon and all night 15 firefighters and about 50 firefighters fought until they controlled it. According to eyewitnesses, they smashed the doors of the apartments one by one to make sure everyone was out.
Eyewitnesses described burning insulation panels, and amateur videos showed pieces of cladding melting and falling on the street. Engineers will inspect the condition of the structure, but there are concerns that the supporting steel columns may be damaged by high temperatures and the unit may be uninhabitable.
The building is more than 10 years old and it is unacceptable for such a modern block to be totally unprotected, said Mayor Giuseppe Sala on Facebook. It was clear from the beginning that the London-like façade had caught fire too quickly a few years ago.
The Grenfell investigation found that the cause of the rapid fire while people were sleeping was due to poor exterior cladding. Residents of similar buildings in the country were forced to remove such panels. The total cost is estimated at billions of pounds.
Prof. Angelo Lucini of the Polytechnic of Milan told Corriere della Sera that the façade appeared to be made of flammable materials, “but unfortunately there is no law prohibiting this”.
The 60-meter-high building was designed to look like a ship’s keel, and there was an aluminum “sail” on the roof, which the fire melted and it was scattered to pieces on the street.
© Reuters
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