A SPARKLING candle caused a blaze in a trendy Madrid restaurant just two weeks after the Swiss new year tragedy that killed 40.
After diners had finished eating at Fanatico, they watched dancers perform on the bar, were handed drinks by waiters and waved sparklers in the air to the rhythm of the music.
Then things took a turn as one of these sparkling candles set alight a plant close to the restaurant’s entrance.
Fortunately a Fanatico employee was quick to put out the flames by grabbing a nearby fire extinguisher.
‘There were eight seconds of fire but it could have cost us our lives,’ Carolina F., who was dining at the restaurant to celebrate her birthday, told EL PAIS.
Echoing the start of the Swiss new year tragedy, this Madrid blaze has raised further concerns about health and safety.
The Swiss incident saw a bar in a ski resort be set alight by sparklers on bottles that were being carried too close to the ceiling. It left 40 dead, including a 15 year old who had been educated in the UK, and a further 116 injured.
Fanatico, like this Swiss bar and other trendy dining establishments, has been using sparklers indoors for some time.
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Those in charge of the two-story Madrid restaurant have, however, said that they will stop using flares and fireworks after this weekend’s incident, according to a statement they sent to EL PAIS.
Madrid City Council have also announced that it is preparing an ordinance to regulate the use of indoor fireworks with the Deputy Mayor Inmaculada Sanz telling Europa Press that it seems that ‘a ban’ on flares could be incoming.
Currently Madrid’s municipality regulations restrict the use of flammable material on ceilings and walls and limits flares unless authorised.
Fanatico did hold ‘fire protection certificates required by current regulations, which helped prevent the fire from spreading,’ according to GLH Singular Restaurants, the group that owns this establishment and 18 other dining spots.
It was these protocols that allowed an employee to extinguish the flames in eight seconds, the group says.
Still, they have banned the use of pyrotechnics in all of their restaurants following the Madrid blaze that caused great confusion among diners.
One guest was seen holding a curtain between him and the fire to prevent burns, as seen in a video given to EL PAIS, smoke from the extinguisher spread through the dining room and employees ordered an evacuation, several customers told the aforementioned newspaper.
At the door of the restaurant, close to an office, an employee collected payments from those who had not yet paid, these individuals continued.
These chaotic scenes, though short-lived, has left authorities under growing pressure to act as Madrid moves towards ending the use of sparklers and flares inside restaurants.
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