Extreme Heat Stalls Shopping Tijuca Fire Investigation as Prior Safety Warnings Surface

Overview

• Authorities say the blaze started in the Bell’Art decor store in the subsoil, but the technical cause remains undetermined pending a full forensic inspection.
• Civil Defense has kept the entire subsoil closed and interdicted 17 ground-floor stores due to heat damage and deformation, while stating there is no risk of the complex collapsing.
• Police have collected CCTV footage and begun interviewing witnesses, and reports indicate Bell’Art lacked Fire Department approval to operate even as the mall held an assisted approval certificate.
• Peritos entered the site but retreated from the suspected focal area near a storage section because temperatures near 70°C and unstable structure require shoring before deeper analysis.
• Internal emails and a December report by the two victims flagged exposed wiring, inoperable detectors, and storage above sprinklers; the mall says protocols were followed, 7,000 people were evacuated, and reopening awaits Fire Department clearance as 14 stores remain destroyed.