The building in Altea which housed a photographic shop which went on fire last week , reached temperatures of 800 degrees according to technicians from the town’s Engineering Department .This is likely to have damaged the structural integrity of the building .Five fire tenders had to be deployed to put the fire out .Guardia Civil and the emergency services were also on hand .
It is thought that the fire began in the airconditioning system of the photographic shop in the Town Hall square .They have been dealt a severe blow and lost virtually all of their expensive equipment .Eleven families who lived in flats above and around the shop had to be evacuated .The prevailing winds carried the acrid black smoke across the square to the Town Hall where the staff were also badly affected .One employee described how the shop just burst into flame .The smoke was potentially fatal to people and consequently workers and others had to be removed from the scene .
Another man observed that the fire need not have become so bad .It appears that he watched the scene and saw firemen attempt to put out the flames with a hand held hose after breaking a window which just allowed more air in to fan the flames .All of this after the fire tender was unable to get down the street because of doubled parked cars and then there was a locked fire hydrant and it took an age to discover the keys .He felt that it need not have developed into such a massive fire .
