A week ago, a devastating fire hit the Spegazzini Industrial Park in Ezeiza. While that was the initial point of the flames, it was the subsequent explosion that severely affected most of the 25 companies in the park, as well as neighbors and business owners in Ezeiza and surrounding areas. The shockwave caused serious structural damage to the company Flamia, a producer of aluminum profiles, located next door. As of November 22, tension is rising in the area due to the resurgence of a fire that keeps neighboring companies on high alert. A thick column of smoke persists inside one of the warehouses belonging to the firm Logischem. Although firefighters are on-site, they are awaiting authorization from the prosecutor's office to intervene and extinguish this new active hotspot. Judicial sources informed the Argentine News Agency that highly flammable items may have been stored in the affected warehouses under the supervision of the Buenos Aires province's Ministry of the Environment. This situation is said to have caused the wooden pallets to catch fire, and upon coming into contact with other substances like red and white phosphorus, of which there were numerous containers, the violent explosion and shockwave that was felt up to 15 kilometers away was unleashed. While the causes are being investigated, the owners of nearby factories are living with the unease that the smoke is a sign that the underlying problem has not yet been solved. Advances in the judicial investigation In parallel, judicial sources indicated that "a possible contamination (between chemical substances) is being investigated." The concern among neighboring entrepreneurs is palpable due to the fear of a reactivation of the fire that could cause greater damage. Hypothesis about the origin of the explosion The uncertainty intensifies with testimonies from employees of the petrochemical company, who pointed out that a peroxide leak that occurred on the morning of Friday the 14th, hours before the major explosion, was not properly remedied. In addition, Iron Montain, Plásticos Lago, Larroca Minera, Almacén de Frío, Aditivos Alimentarios, and Sinteplast were seriously affected. It was determined that the fire, which surprised workers around 8:00 PM on Friday, began at the company Logística Fizbay, whose commercial name is Logischem. The expert tasks were carried out by the Division of Disaster Investigation of the Fire Department and Risk Protection - dependent on the Federal Department of Investigations - in collaboration with personnel from the Provincial Ecological Police. The prosecutor in charge, Florencia Belloc, ordered from the start the taking of testimonial statements from those present and the carrying out of expert reports to establish the origin and development of the fire. The current picture is composed of rubble, collapsed structures, and a plume of smoke that not only complicates visibility but also generates serious concern for the safety and integrity of neighboring facilities. The experts finished collecting the last samples this Wednesday.
