Large Fire Damages UFPE Research Building in Recife

Overview

• A large blaze struck an isolated UFPE building on the Recife campus on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, and firefighters controlled the fire with no reported injuries.
• The building housed laboratories in pharmaceuticals, informatics and genetics and university officials say the fire spread quickly because of stored materials, causing major structural damage.
• UFPE and the state fire service have isolated the site and begun damage assessments while the reitor said years of equipment, samples and research were lost and one estimate put equipment losses near R$100 million.
• Federal oversight has been requested: the Attorney-General ordered a team of federal prosecutors to follow the inquiry and deputy-elect Jones Manoel asked the Polícia Federal and MPF to investigate reports of messages that threatened to “explode the department.”
• The student union has formally demanded transparency, safety inspections and a full forensic review after this fire followed two other recent campus lab incidents, raising questions about hazardous-material storage and preventive measures and threatening students’ and researchers’ ongoing projects.