Fire in Church During Renovation Works in Lucca (Italy)

On December 27th, 2010 a fire occurred in one of the major monuments in Lucca, the Guinigi chapel within the complex of San Francesco. The building dates from the second half of the 300 and it was subject to restoration and modernization works. The smoke has completely blackened medieval frescoes and decorations.

According to a reconstruction, the first flames have started when the workers engaged in the construction of a ventilation system, had just started to weld two sleeves of polyurethane tubing that is approximately 80 cm in diameter by an electric welder. Probably, on this occasion there was a short circuit. The same workers have tried to stop the fire by closing the vents of the ventilation system, then tried to extinguish the fire with extinguishers but the flames were too high and the air no more breathable.

In a short time, fire and smoke have saturated the whole chapel blacking out the plaster beneath which lie the fourteenth-century decor. Two teams of firefighters have prevented the flames from reaching the other rooms of the museum complex.

According to first assessments, damages reach 100.000 euros.