Fire in squat injures three
By Alex Watkins
A FIRE in an apartment occupied by squatters in Torrevieja resulted in three people requiring treatment for injuries and smoke inhalation on Saturday, reported the provincial fire service.
The alert was received at 11.49 regarding a three-storey building at Calle Ulpiano, 80.
Firefighters arrived to find that the blaze was generating a lot of heat and flames, principally in the basement and lift shaft, which was full of furniture and mattresses.
Three people suffered burns and smoke inhalation when they tried to come down from the third floor.
The residents of the rest of the building were confined to their homes until they could be safety evacuated later.
One of the two people who suffered burns was taken in by helicopter to La Fe hospital in Valencia, and the other to Torrevieja hospital.
The building had to be ventilated mechanically to clear it of smoke and gases.
Two emergency medical team ambulances (SAMU) and local police attended the scene, along with a fire engine and a command unit with a sergeant, a corporal and four firefighters from Torrevieja fire station.
