Fire Damages UFPE Campus Recife Building and Multiple Laboratories

Overview

• A fire broke out on Wednesday night at a UFPE building on Campus Recife, firefighters were called to the scene and the university reported no injuries.
• UFPE says the flames spread quickly because of the types of products kept in the building, and the blaze caused large damage to the structure.
• The building housed laboratories for pharmaceuticals, computing and genetics, and the university said ongoing research and samples were affected.
• Rector Alfredo Gomes was on site during firefighting operations, crews have been working on controlling and cooling the site, and government lawyers have asked for a formal investigation into the incident.
• UFPE has begun or will begin a formal evaluation to quantify physical losses, research impact and recovery needs, and the university community faces disrupted projects, lost samples and uncertainty about when labs can resume work.