LISBON FIRE services spent Tuesday securing two buildings completely gutted by fire on Sunday night.
The blaze, the worst in the city’s downtown area since fire swept through the famous Armazéns do Chiado in 1988, started at around 11.15pm in an empty four-storey building at Avenida da Liberdade Nº 23.
For around four hours, firemen from the Regimento de Sapadores e dos Bombeiros Voluntários de Lisboa, backed up by other volunteer fire services from around Greater Lisbon, battled the blaze that threatened surrounding buildings including one in Rua da Glória.
Praising the fire services in containing the blaze, Lisbon Câmara President, António Costa, who was at the scene and has ordered an enquiry, said their swift and professional response had “averted another Armazéns do Chiado situation”.
The fire, suspected of having been caused deliberately or by squatters has led police, firemen and Lisbon councillors alike to call for measures to refurbish and repopulate Lisbon’s 3,800 empty, derelict buildings.
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