Furniture factory gutted by fire in Coin

GUARDIA CIVIL are investigating the cause of a massive fire which destroyed a furniture factory in Coin.

Maderas Menur, on the Cantarranas Industrial Estate, is a family-run business and one of the largest companies in Coin, but four of its five industrial warehouses, covering an area of more than 5,000m2, were totally gutted by the fire within hours.

The blaze occurred in the early hours of Easter Sunday. Flames were almost eight metres high, causing much alarm amongst local residents, as did explosions caused by tins of varnish and other chemical products stored by the company, which acted as accelerants.

The investigation is now underway to determine whether the fire was started deliberately or if it was just an unfortunate accident.

Investigators are focusing on the fifth warehouse, which was also seriously damaged.

The company had recently invested €3.4 million to expand business at an international level and employed almost 90 people.

Local residents have complained about the time it took firemen to get to the scene, according to Spanish Press reports.

The local fire department could not deal with the huge fire alone and reinforcements were called in from Alhaurin de la Torre, Antequera, Ronda and Velez-Malaga.

In the meantime, residents in the area used hoses and buckets in an attempt to help.

Photo credit: Peter Bennetts