More than 150 workers were evacuated after a massive fire tore through a Honda motorcycle factory in Spain, destroying a large warehouse and sending emergency crews rushing to the scene.
The fire broke out at the Montesa Honda factory in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, near Barcelona. The facility has been a major part of the industrial area for decades and employs hundreds of workers.
Spanish reports said around 30 fire crews responded as flames ripped through the factory. Firefighters battled the blaze for hours before finally bringing it under control.
According to Bombers de la Generalitat, Catalonia’s fire service, crews received the alert and had the fire extinguished about three hours later.
Officials said the 20,000-square-meter warehouse had “burned completely.” The fire damaged the inside of the factory and the roof, with part of the affected structure eventually collapsing.
Fire officials confirmed that employees were evacuated and that no injuries were reported.
Because of the size and intensity of the blaze, firefighters also ordered evacuations at nearby industrial buildings and told workers at other businesses in the area to shelter in place.
“The affected warehouse has collapsed and the fire remains active,” Bombers said in one update while crews were still fighting the flames.
Even after the main fire was contained, firefighters remained at the scene to monitor the smoke plume and put out smaller flare-ups nearby, including burning bushes and other surrounding material.
By the time the fire was under control, officials began scaling back the emergency response. However, crews stayed through the night to watch the site and continue mop-up work.
“Throughout the entire night, we have continued working on the fire at the industrial warehouse in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, which remains under control,” the fire service said. “We are maintaining four detachments from Bomberscat, who continue carrying out surveillance and mop-up tasks for the fire.”
Spain’s Business Minister, Miquel Samper, visited the site Saturday and said the government was standing “alongside” Honda following the devastating blaze.
The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed, and officials have not said when the factory may be able to resume normal operations.
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Uh – very likely were making electric motorcycles / scooters/ etc – and we should all know by now what can easily happen where a lot of lithium-ion batteries are stored together. The fact they couldn’t extinguish the fire completely is a tell-tale sign of an LI battery fire. — When will the world ever learn???