The fire began minutes before two in the morning in the Bilbao town of Irún, in the living room of one of the houses on the second floor of the affected block. It has been the municipal police officers who have notified the firefighters when they realized that flames were coming out through the window.
At first, all the residents of the adjoining portals have been evicted, 50 people in total. The flames and smoke made it impossible in some cases to walk down the stairs, so some neighbors had to be evacuated through the window using the firefighters’ ladders.
In total, the emergency services have treated eleven people for smoke inhalation.
Five of them have had to be transferred to hospitals and two of them are still hospitalized, although their condition is not serious.
Most of those evicted have also been able to return to their homes. The last to do so will be those who live in the portal of the affected apartment, although it is expected that they will be able to return to their homes throughout the day.
In reality, the only damaged house was the one that suffered the fire. The flames have started in the living room, which has been badly damaged. According to the emergency services, the rest of the house is “blackened” and suffers damage due to the water that the firefighters have used to extinguish the flames.
The Ertzaintza has opened an investigation to try to clarify the causes of the fire. Technicians from the town hall have also come to the area who have confirmed that, despite the fire’s ostentatiousness, the building does not suffer structural damage. The local police councilor, Cristina Laborda, has confirmed that “removing the exact point where the fire started”, the rest of the houses “are in good condition”.
