Fire in Milan in Gambara, the fire started from a garage. The owner: «We were handling diesel, everything exploded». Mom, dad and son died suffocated by smoke

The first to notice the smoke desperately cling to the intercoms. They press the buttons on the keyboard. They try to warn everyone, to launch the alarm. «Come, come, come out.” The fire in Milan, in the Gambara area, started from a car repair shop. In a few moments the black cloud that emerges is shaken by explosionand then follows the fire That he climbs up the facade of the building in an instant. It’s very fast. And reaches the apartments of a condominium via Fra Galgario. There are those who flee. Who is saved. But three of them will be found lifeless. They were all in the same apartment on the third floor of this building between Piazzale Gambara and Piazzale Siena. They are father, mother and son.

The injured in the fire in Gambara

Other four people — between the ages of 39 and 89 — come rescued and sorted into various hospitals. A woman, who lives on the fifth floor, is said to be in serious condition. The others are transported, some in code yellow and some in green, especially due to the consequences of inhaling a lot of smoke. Among them there is also a workshop employee (burned) who started it all, while the owner, Fabrizio Ghiani, was treated on site. «We were tinkering with the diesel, and then everything exploded»he vents distraught in front of the building which the heat and fire have flayed and blackened, while firefighters, 118 personnel and law enforcement officers run from all sides to put out the fire, make the area safe and help those in need .

The explosion and the fire

It would all start around 7pm on Friday, while in the shop there is a car under repair. Then, to understand in detail what happened, the conclusions of the investigations carried out by the men of the fire brigade’s investigative unit will be needed. The fact is that from the room on the ground floor a path begins to make its way upwards column of thick black smoke. Then, the explosion, the heat, the flames. They climb along the façade overlooking the street, but above all they find outlet towards the internal courtyard of the building.

An hour to put out the flames

It is the very high temperatures that are released in a few moments that break through a glass door at the back. The fire takes on oxygen, feeds himself with everything he can find – fuel, tyres, oils – and in the meantime he finds an outlet in the stairwell, and climbs up to the fifth and last floor of the condominium. Every useful means is thrown on site. It will take around fifty firefighters an hour to put out the fire.

The investigations

In the prosecutor’s office, in the next few hours, a case will be opened with the hypotheses of manslaughter, disaster and negligent fire. The owner of the workshop will be registered under the guarantee, so as to be able to carry out the necessary checks to clarify dynamics and possible responsibilities. Between hypothesis being examined by investigators, it is not excluded that someone among those who worked in the business on the street level may have done something risky maneuverperhaps while handling some flammable material.

«An uncontrollable fire»

“It was an uncontrollable fire”explains the deputy prosecutor Tiziana Siciliano at the end of his inspection, and the victims “were unable to escape”. Based on the initial findings, he explains, «the fire probably spread over a car that was under repair. This, due to the petrol and the presence of highly flammable materials, triggered an uncontrollable fire, which probably involved other combustible materials such as tyres, which consequently caused extraordinary smoke”.

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