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Dense clouds of black, acrid smoke swirled around inside Casa Bannatyne during the late afternoon of 9th February 2010. A fire – believed to have been caused by an electrical fault – had broken out in a store room of Funvini’s residential home in Medellín. Smoke-detectors in various parts of the house sounded their alarms, and the fire-brigade was summoned. Fortunately, there were no children in the building at the time, and all the adults who were there escaped unscathed. |
| Security guards and employees from Funvini fought the blaze with fire-extinguishers and managed to prevent it from spreading, but Fr Peter had to order the house to be evacuated because of the danger from the smoke. However, when the fire-brigade arrivedthey succeeded in quenching the flames before they had taken hold of the building. | |
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“Our staff all behaved with calmness and courage,” Fr Peter reported. “And I must pay a glowing tribute to Medellín’s fire-brigade for their bravery and professionalism. I would also like to thank the police for their rapid response to our call for help. Their Colonel even came in person to see if we needed any further assistance.” “This has been a very frightening incident, but we must thank God that it was not infinitely worse,” said Fr Peter. “Now we must learn any lessons that it has to teach us, and get on with the work of clearing up.” |
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Fire services “Although there has been a good deal of smoke-damage in the house, the fire does not appear to have caused much structural harm. The building was properly insured, and we hope that this will cover the cost of repairs, replacements and redecoration. |
