Fire prompts evacuations at COP30 climate talks in Brazil : NPR

BELEM, Brazil — A fire briefly spread through pavilions used for U.N. climate talks in Brazil and forced evacuations on Thursday, the penultimate day of the conference. Officials said 13 people were treated for smoke inhalation.

Organizers said the fire was brought under control in about six minutes. Fire officials ordered the entire site of the conference, known as COP30, evacuated, and it was unclear when negotiations would resume.

Brazil's Tourism Minister Celso Sabino told reporters at the scene that the fire started near the China pavilion, which was one of several pavilions set up for events on the sidelines of climate talks.

According to Samuel Rubin, one of the managers of the entertainment and cultural pavilion, the fire quickly spread to neighboring pavilions. He said nearby pavilions include many African pavilions and one aimed at youth.

The video shows huge flames in one of the pavilions, which are reinforced canvas or fabric structures that usually have three walls and a floor.

Pará state governor Helder Barbaglo told local news outlet G1 that the cause of the fire could have been a generator failure or a short circuit in the hut.

Much of the Belem summit site was still under construction right up until the conference opened, with exposed beams, exposed plywood floors and metal mesh corridors leading nowhere outside the convention center. During the pre-summit event, drilling and jackhammering could be heard, world leaders made speeches and dozens of hard-hatted workers scurried around unfinished pavilions shrouded in plastic.

A security officer orders people to leave the site of the UN COP30 climate summit on Thursday in Belem, Brazil.

Fernando Llano/AP

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Fernando Llano/AP

Gabi Andrade, a COP30 volunteer from the host city of Belem, said she has been working on accreditation for the conference for the past three weeks. Thursday was her first day off and she had just finished her lunch break and was exploring the Singapore Pavilion when the fire broke out.

She said she saw black smoke. The security guard grabbed her hand and pointed her toward the exit as she cried and screamed “fire.”

Despite the shock of the situation, she was worried about the impact it would have on the reputation of Brazil as it negotiated. “We are so sad,” she said. “We all worked so hard.”