Hundreds of stalls were destroyed in an early morning fire that spread to all four floors of Latin America’s largest enclosed market. There were no injuries.
Firetrucks battle blaze at Mercado San Juan de Dios in the early morning hours. Photo from governor’s office video broadcast by Grupo Reforma.
Editor. Guadalajara firemen and Jalisco Civil Protection personnel were mopping up the heavily damaged Mercado San Juan de Dios this afternoon a after they brought the raging fire that began early this morning (31 de marzo) under control The fire was first reported at 2:30 am, and according to Mayor Palo Lemus, and multiple units of the Guadalajara Bomberos and the Jalisco State Civil Protection and Fire Department responded to the report of a fire possibly in the kitchen areas (later attributed to a diablito connector used to steal electricity shorting out.). No one has been reported injured.
Mercado San Juan de Dios, designed by Alejandro Zohn and opened on December 30, 1958 in Central Guadalajara, is the largest indoor Market in Latin America with a total area of 4,000 square meter and 2980 vendor stalls.
The fire quickly spread to all four levels of the emblematic building, affecting a wide range of merchants, including clothing, shoes, arts, crafts and food. As of this afternoon 384 stalls in the mercado were reported destroyed (later raised to an estimated 430 by Civil Protection officials), according to reports from people on the scene in a video posted by Grupo Reforma. This number has not been confirmed by Laguna or official sources and may be much higher.
Javier Mina Avenue along the side of the mercado was closed as of 6:30 am and had not completely reopened as of 1:00 pm as fire crews were still mopping up and assessing the damage and the dangers in the smoking building.
Victor Roldan, General Director of the Jalisco State Civil Protection and Fire Department noted that over 300 personnel and 80 vehicles eventually were used in extinguishing the blaze. While no official assessment of damage was available as of 1:00 pm, Roldan told media that the building was not totally destroyed. Merchants were not allowed into the building because of the danger of spot fires and structural collapse, but many gathered around the security perimeter set up by fire and police, telling on-scene media that their entire livelihood may have gone up in smoke.
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