The Wilton Paes de Almeida Building ( pt, Edifício Wilton Paes de Almeida) was a high-rise building in Largo do Paissandú,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, that was built in the 1960s. It was listed as a historic building in 1992. It was the headquarters of the Federal Police in São Paulo from the 1980s until 2003, after which it was occupied by squatters. It caught fire and collapsed on 1 May 2018, causing at least 7 fatalities.

Building

The modernist building was designed by Roger Zmekhol. It was built between 1961 and 1968 by Morse & Bierrenbach. It occupied a plot of , with around of internal space. The structure's

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

were made of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

and

steel-reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

, which supported

cantilevered A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

floor slabs of ribbed concrete. An aluminum-framed glass curtain wall wrapped the exterior of the building. It was located at 22 Rua Antonio de Godói in the República area of São Paulo, adjacent to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of São Paulo. It had 24 floors. It was one of the first buildings in São Paulo with a glass façade, with air conditioning built in to keep the façade clear. It had a marble and stainless steel hall. The building was considered a property of historical, architectural and landscape interest, which guaranteed the preservation of its external characteristics. In 1992 it was listed by CONPRESP ( pt, Conselho Municipal de Preservação do Patrimônio Histórico, Cultural e Ambiental da Cidade de São Paulo, Municipal Council for the Preservation of Historic, Cultural and Environmental Heritage of the City of São Paulo). The building was initially owned by businessman and politician Sebastião Paes de Almeida, and housed various companies. Debts meant that the building was taken over by the federal government. It housed the headquarters of the Federal Police in São Paulo between the 1980s and 2003, and was also the headquarters of INSS (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social) before being abandoned and occupied by squatters. It was put up for sale in 2015 for around R$20 million.

Fire and collapse

The fire started on the fifth floor of the building at around 4:20am GMT (1:20 a.m. local time) at the first hours of 2 May 2018 (late night of 1 May,

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

), and collapsed about 90 minutes later. The cause of the fire was a short-circuit in a

power strip A power strip is a block of electrical sockets that attaches to the end of a flexible cable (typically with a mains plug on the other end), allowing multiple electrical devices to be powered from a single electrical socket. Power strips are often ...

connected to a microwave, TV and refrigerator. The fire spread to an adjacent building, which was not in danger of collapse. The central part of the adjacent Evangelical Lutheran Church of São Paulo was also destroyed during the collapse of the building. At the time of the fire, 372 people (146 families) were occupying the building. Makeshift wooden living structures helped to spread the fire throughout the building, with the empty shafts where lifts had formerly been acting like a

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

. Around 160 firefighters attended the scene. At least one person died, who was being rescued using a steel rope when the building collapsed. The exact number of deaths and injuries are still unknown since the building was mostly occupied by

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

. Initially, the fire was thought to have been caused by a

gas explosion A gas explosion is an explosion resulting from mixing a gas, typically from a gas leak, with air in the presence of an ignition source. In household accidents, the principal explosive gases are those used for heating or cooking purposes such as nat ...

. As of 18 May, 2 residents of the building are still missing. The first body was found on 4 May, with six people missing. Prior to collapse, the building had recently been surveyed, and no structural risk had been reported; this investigation was reopened after the collapse, along with a new inspection of 70 other buildings in São Paulo.

References

{{Reflist, 40em, refs= {{cite news, title=Brazil fire: São Paulo building collapses in huge blaze, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-43960778, work=BBC News, date=1 May 2018, accessdate=31 May 2018 {{cite news, title=Residential tower block collapses after huge fire rips through building, url=http://metro.co.uk/2018/05/01/residential-tower-block-collapses-huge-fire-rips-building-7511628/, work=Metro, date=1 May 2018 {{cite news, title=Vídeo mostra desabamento de prédio que pegou fogo em São Paulo, url=https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/video-mostra-desabamento-de-predio-que-pegou-fogo-em-sao-paulo-22642662, work=O Globo, date=1 May 2018, language=pt-BR {{cite web, url=http://www.arquivo.arq.br/edifcio-wilton-paes-de-almeida, title=Arquivo Arq, accessdate=2018-05-01, language=pt {{cite news, title=Edifício Wilton Paes de Almeida: prédio que desabou em SP foi projetado na década de 1960 e era patrimônio histórico, url=https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/edificio-wilton-paes-de-almeida-predio-que-desabou-em-sp-foi-projetado-na-decada-de-1960-e-era-patrimonio-historico.ghtml, journal=G1, language=pt-BR {{cite news, title='Praticamente sobrou o altar e a torre', diz pastor sobre igreja atingida pelos escombros de prédio no Centro de SP, url=https://g1.globo.com/sp/sao-paulo/noticia/praticamente-sobrou-o-altar-e-a-torre-diz-pastor-sobre-igreja-atingida-pelos-escombros-de-predio-no-centro-de-sp.ghtml, journal=G1, language=pt-BR {{cite news, title=Edifício com cenário digno da série 'Mad Men' está abandonado {{! São Paulo nas Alturas, url=https://vejasp.abril.com.br/blog/sao-paulo-nas-alturas/edificio-wilton-paes-almeida-roger-zmekhol/, accessdate=1 May 2018, work=VEJA SÃO PAULO, language=pt-BR {{cite web, title=Edifício Wilton Paes de Almeida, url=https://sampahistorica.wordpress.com/2014/12/22/edificio-wilton-paes-de-almeida/, website=SAMPA HISTÓRICA, accessdate=1 May 2018, language=pt-BR, date=22 December 2014 {{cite news, title=Primeiro corpo encontrado é de homem que resgatou vítimas, url=https://noticias.r7.com/sao-paulo/primeiro-corpo-encontrado-e-de-homem-que-resgatou-vitimas-04052018, work=R7.com, date=4 May 2018, language=pt-BR {{cite news, title=Curto-circuito no 5º andar deu início ao incêndio no prédio do Largo do Paiçandu, url=http://sao-paulo.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,curto-circuito-no-5-andar-deu-inicio-ao-incendio-no-predio-do-largo-do-paicandu,70002293509, work=estadao.com.br, date=4 May 2018, language=pt-BR 2018 fires in South America Buildings and structures in São Paulo Former skyscrapers Collapsed buildings and structures Office buildings completed in 1968 Fires in Brazil May 2018 events in South America Building collapses in 2018 2018 in Brazil Building collapses caused by fire