Blaze Started in Appliance Storeroom
The blaze that threatened tragedy and devoured the top two floors of a building in downtown San José Thursday night started in an appliance storeroom, officials say. The Styfani-Infilang building located on Calle 4 and Avenida Central, across from the Banco Central de Costa Rica, became the scene of the biggest fire for this year when flames and smoke poured from the building around 5:30pm.

The building, housing an English language school, offices and a storeroom for the Almacén Hogar Feliz, was quickly evacuated and no injuries were reported.

The ground floor of the building houses a number of retail outlets and a Pizza Hut restaurant. Initial rumours were centred that the restaurant exhaust could have been a source of the blaze. However, officials, in their preliminary report, say the fire started in the Hogar Feliz storeroom on the fifth floor.

Héctor Chávez, director of the firefighters, said that they were able to contain and control the fire quickly as they got to the source of the fire in time before it spread further. "It appears that the fire was a slow starter. People first saw smoke, a situation that is common in fires caused by a short circuit", said Chávez.

Friday morning authorities that included officials of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) closely inspected the building and determined the cause of the fire that destroyed some 370 square metres of floor area. Smoke damage caused damaged to an equal amount of floor space in the building.

Authorities say the fifth floor is completely destroyed.