Rapid action by the fire brigade saves Cordoba's mosque-cathedral

The rapid and effective action of the fire brigade on Friday night stopped the flames from completely engulfing the mosque-cathedral in Cordoba,declared a World Heritage site since 1984. In the absence of technical reports, it is estimated that the fire and smoke only affected three of the chapels, between "25 and 50 square metres" of the 23,000 square metres of the whole complex. Dean-president of the Cathedral Chapter of Cordoba Joaquín Alberto Nieva described the damage as "very small" and "localised".

The fire started around 9pm. Although the exact cause of the incident is not known, it is believed the the fire originated from a short circuit during the loading of a sweeping machine in one of the chapels, which serves as a warehouse for cleaning materials and chairs. The chapel is located in the so-called nave of Almanzor, which faces the eastern facade of the monument. Once the spark was ignited, the fire quickly spread to the roofs and the adjoining chapel - the Anunciación chapel, whose roof ended up collapsing under the weight of the water used to extinguish the fire. The chapel of San Nicolás de Bari was also affected, although only by the smoke.

Accompanied by mayor José María Bellido and the temple's bishop emeritus Demetrio Fernández, Nieva appeared in the Patio de los Naranjos to update the public on the damages left by the fire. "What has collapsed is about 25 square metres," he said, limiting the damage to "recently restored" wooden vaults. Although he confirmed that some "sculptural, pictorial or altarpiece works" had been affected, he highlighted that the damage has not been as vast and serious as in the storage chapel, the roof of which is "practically destroyed and burnt".

The flames did not reach the chapel of the Holy Spirit - the most important one. The temple even reopened for visitors first thing on Saturday morning, only some hours after the fire. "It is completely safe to visit and worship," said Nieva.

The dean-president stated that, in the autumn, "one of the most modern fire-fighting systems in existence will be implemented: water mist. It is the same system that was installed at Notre Dame after its reconstruction". In addition, the action protocol will be reviewed, although Nieva assessed that it had worked perfectly this time. "The fire was extinguished in reasonable time and with great efficiency," he said.

Head of the Speis fire prevention and fighting service Daniel Muñoz said that the 35 firefighters who worked on extinguishing the fire focused their efforts on preventing "the fire from spreading to other chapels". According to him, the greatest difficulty was in controlling the beams so that the roofs would not collapse.

The first alarm was raised at 9.15pm on Friday, when the 112 emergency service received several calls reporting smoke in the area around the mosque-cathedral. From that moment on, videos and photos showing a large cloud of smoke around some the roofs of the monument started to spread on social media. The cloud was visible from different parts of the city.

The mayor and the bishop emeritus announced that the fire was under control around 11pm, although it was fully extinguished around 12.17am. The fire brigade remained at the scene during the night and monitored the area. Meanwhile, the monument's maintenance staff initiated cleaning tasks so that the mosque-cathedral could open in the morning.

No injuries were reported as a result of the incident, although one firefighter had to be evacuated from the area after suffering a heatstroke due to the high temperatures.