By a balloon, a priest’s house was burned in Medellín

This Friday, The Administrative Department of Disaster Risk Management of Medellín (DAGRD) reported that, during the night of this December 31, the rectory of the parish of San Antonio de Prado was completely destroyed by a fire, caused by a balloon that fell on the building.

“Tomorrow it can be your home. It is everyone’s responsibility to avoid this life-threatening practice, “the entity warned through a post on its Twitter account.

The mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero Calle, also on his social network, published the damage caused by the artifact, highlighting the dangers of this tradition, deeply rooted in the department of Antioquia: “A balloon = a fire”, exemplified the president.

According to the DAGRD reports, During the last hours of 2020 and the first of 2021, 12 emergency events were reported in the capital of Antioquia, of which five were fires caused by falling balloons.

“In the last 12 hours, with Firefighters from Medellín we have attended 12 incidents, of which five (5) have been incnedios generated by balloons, the most relevant being the priesthood of the San Antonio de Prado district, which was completely destroyed, ”the entity reported on its social networks.

“We are mourning this loss, of this historical piece that was in the care of the city, which is presented is due to the irresponsibility of some people who continue to launch these balloons and that later affects citizens,” the brigadier claimed at a press conference. General Eliécer Camacho, commander of the Metropolitan Police of Valle de Aburrá.

Leonardo Buitrago, undersecretary of Security of the city also drew the attention of those who called “irresponsible people who continue to use wick balloons, balloons that cause loss of life and material loss, and we cannot continue to allow that”.

Eduardo Yepes, parish priest of the church, explained that the event occurred around one in the morning, when the balloon fell on a plastic roof that covered part of the building’s courtyard, starting the conflagration. The priest assured that at first he tried to put out the fire with the help of some neighbors, while the firefighters arrived.

“The firefighters responded quickly, they came, put out the fire, but as this house is made of wild cane, the roof, possibly they didn’t put it out completely and the fire started again and we totally lost the house,” the priest told the local channel Telemedellín, who reported that around four in the morning the fire could be controlled.

Additionally, recordings on social networks reported a group of people who launched a gigantic balloon from a park in the Calasanz sector, in the western part of the city, and in the municipality of Bello, another large balloon caught fire after get entangled in industry power cables.

Alethia Arango Gil, director of DAGRD, revealed that a person was injured by the conflagration in the rectory. It is about a priest, who has slight burns on his left arm. The official recommended avoiding the use of balloons “which can put people’s lives at risk.”