Edifício Joelma
The Edifício Joelma is a 25-story high-rise in the Brazilian metropolis of São Paulo , which was completed in 1972. The lower six floors serve as a parking garage , while offices are set up on the floors above. The building became famous for the fire that broke out on February 1, 1974 on the 12th floor. At least 179 people were killed in the resulting major fire.
After the fire, the building was restored, it took four years before it could reopen as Praça da Bandeira .
The fire
Most likely, the fire broke out at 8:50 a.m. local time in an air conditioning unit on the 12th floor. This was connected in violation of the regulations and did not have a motor protection switch which would have switched off the device if the motor overheated. At that point there were about 756 people in the building. The fire brigade was only alerted about 15 minutes later from a building opposite. The incoming message to the fire brigade was 'Fire on the 11th floor', which is why there are different details here. The first fire brigade arrived five minutes after the alarm on the square in front of the building and penetrated to the 11th floor. She was unable to go any further due to smoke and a lack of equipment. In 1974 the city had 20 fire stations , which were not enough to fight the fire quickly. When the fire brigade arrived, the fire had already spread to the 15th floor via the stairwell due to the lack of fire protection equipment . The building was not prepared for a possible fire, so there was no fire alarm system, sprinklers or fire doors . There was also only one stairwell, which was not signposted as an escape route and had no emergency lighting. In addition to these omissions, there was the interior of the rooms, which was very combustible. Furthermore, there were no evacuation plans in the event of a fire. So the catastrophe was inevitable.
Against all common sense, around 300 people were saved using three of the four elevators. These elevators were not fireproof and there could have been deaths here too. But due to the lack of alternatives, there was nothing else to do, because the fire brigade's turntable ladders only reached up to the 11th floor. The rescue of the people who fled to the roof with helicopters could not be carried out either, because there was not a sufficiently large landing area and smoke, as well as thermals made a hovering picture of people impossible. Of the around 170 who fled to the roof, 80 survived because they had sought shelter under roof tiles. Forty people jumped or fell from the building, although passers-by below tried to keep them away by putting up banners saying the fire was out. Of the 40 people, 30 jumped after the fire went out and only smoke rose up, none of the 40 jumpers survived. Some were able to save themselves by climbing down the outside of the facade or abseiling until they were within reach of the fire department ladders. 18 people were also saved by a firefighter throwing ropes over from a neighboring building. This enabled the trapped to go to the neighboring building.
From 10:30 a.m. - after less than two hours - the intensity of the fire decreased and at 1:30 p.m. - after four hours - the fire largely went out by itself because there was no more fuel. Rescue workers were then able to search the building. 179 people died immediately as a result of the fire and 300 others were injured, some seriously. However, there are different figures regarding the number of dead (179–227) and injured (250–300). It was the high-rise fire with the most fatalities at the time of the fire.
documentation
- Peter von Zahn : Pictures that moved the world - skyscraper in flames , first broadcast: July 13, 1983, ZDF
swell
- Henry Russell: Fire - the greatest disasters. Gondrom 1998, ISBN 3-8112-1671-6
Web links
- 10-minute documentary in English about the fire
- Dates and images (Portuguese) ( Memento from July 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 23 ° 32 ′ 58.5 ″ S , 46 ° 38 ′ 26.5 ″ W.