By Harold Heckle
The Associated Press
MADRID, Spain — Fire broke out at the top of an office building under construction on the old training grounds of the Real Madrid soccer team. No one was injured and the fire was put out hours after it started.
The fire lit up the night sky Monday night about a kilometer (half a mile) from a plaza where tens of thousands of people gathered to welcome the Spanish national basketball team and celebrate its win Sunday over Greece in the world championships in Japan.
But the crowd seemed largely oblivious to the inferno at its back.
Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon said there were no reports of injuries in the fire on floors 42 and 43 — the top two — of the building at a height of 162 meters (532 feet).
It may have been caused by combustible materials such as oil catching fire accidentally, the mayor said.
Firefighters struggled to put it out because their ladders did not reach that high, the elevators were not working and they had to walk all the way up to the top with hoses, Ruiz Gallardon said.
Nearly two hours after it started, the fire appeared to be gaining in intensity. It sent a billowing cloud of smoke and large, bright sparks shooting into the sky. Soon after, flames began to dwindle.
Some 20 teams of Madrid firefighters responded to extinguish the blaze, which was reported over around 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), fire officials said.
The structure is one of four office buildings under construction on land that used to house the training facilities of Real Madrid. This particular edifice is called Torre Espacio and was designed to be 56 stories tall — the tallest in Spain — once finished, Telecinco television said.