Tulum, Q.R. — UPDATED: At least 16 businesses were completely consumed by flames during a massive fire along the coastal road area of Tulum. The fire reportedly began in a convenience store and quickly spread to the other businesses located in the same plaza.
Residents and firemen were on scene at Kilometer 6.5 of the hotel zone, attending to the 10:00 p.m. fire that quickly consumed the stores. So far, no injuries have been reported.
Firemen remained on scene for hours. The cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, while an official tally of lost businesses also remains unknown. However, at the time of first reporting, at least five, that were all in the same shopping plaza, were destroyed by the fast-moving flames.
UPDATE: Gilberto Gómez Mora, municipal director of Civil Protection reported that shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday night, they received the report of a fire in the Jungle Market located at kilometer 6.5 of the Tulum-Boca Paila highway.
The cause is still unknown, but approximately 20 establishments in total burned. The burned buildings were made of local woods and palapa grasses. Coupled with the wind, Gómez Mora said the fire quickly spread.
“The fire started in the Jungle Market where there are 16 stores and it reached other businesses because there was a lot of wind and a lot of material such as grass and palm. It quickly spread. The establishments were consumed in their entirety, which resulted in considerable economic losses, although no human lives were lost,” he explained.
“Despite the intense work, all the businesses there were burned including restaurants, bars, shops, pharmacies. It wasn’t until three in the morning that we managed to put out the fire,” he said adding that it was necessary to soak other nearby businesses to avoid them also catching fire.
