Fire destroys bamboo furniture warehouse

Fire ripped through a bamboo furniture warehouse on the Son Castelló industrial estate in Palma yesterday morning, destroying all the contents and seriously damaging parts of the building. The blaze started at the Central Mimbrera depot just before 8am. Palma fire brigade, which has a station on the industrial estate, were at the scene within minutes, but because of the highly flammable nature of the contents, the flames spread rapidly. According to the fire brigade, the blaze started in the basement and part of the rear of the building collapsed. Palma police chief Guillem Garcías, said that eight units battled the blaze and initially tried to extinguish the flames inside the three-storey warehouse/showroom, but were eventually forced out by the fierce heat and had to fight the fire from the exterior while making sure the flames did not spread to the neighbouring warehouses containing oil and mattresses. No one was injured in the fire as the building was evacuated extremely quickly but the building may have to be demolished.