Fire hits building of the Secretariat of Public Safety of Rio Grande do Sul

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A fire hit the administrative building of the Secretary of Public Security of Rio Grande do Sul on the night of Wednesday, 14, resulting in total loss of the building, which also housed two state entities. According to the vice-governor and Public Safety Secretary, Ranolfo Vieira Júnior, there were no casualties, and police operations will not be interrupted.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and, according to Vieira Júnior, “practically 100% of the building is destroyed”. In a statement to the press in the evening, he said that the building functioned more as an administrative headquarters. There was no damage to any evidence or documents linked to the government bodies that functioned there.

“There is no possibility that any criminal evidence was deposited here. There is no damage in this regard,” he said. The 190 emergency telephone services operated at the site were temporarily transferred to the 9th Military Police Battalion. “We need to preserve that there is no discontinuity in the service to society, especially in emergencies.”

The vice-governor classified the fire as an “unfortunate episode” and stressed that the first steps were to evacuate the building and ensure “the preservation of human life.” He also said that a crisis cabinet would be formed to investigate the case. The preliminary suspicion is that the fire started on the 4th floor of the building, where the Superintendency of Private Insurance (Susep) used to work.

Colonel César Eduardo Bonfatti, general commander of the RS Fire Department, said that the firefighting teams arrived at the site and found the fire “declared”. They still had internal and external difficulties in fighting the fire. According to the commander, the building was within all safety deadlines provided by legislation.

In his social networks, governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) regretted the episode and said he is returning to Porto Alegre to follow the case. He had an agenda in Brasilia this Wednesday. “Naturally, the investigation will be carried out to determine the causes of the fire. Our government team is working to quickly forward the case to avoid severing the continuity of the security and penitentiary administration secretariats.”

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