L&R Comercial store in Santo Domingo Este destroyed by fire

Firefighters continued battling the remnants of a massive fire that engulfed an L&R Comercial store in Santo Domingo Este on Sunday. The blaze, which started Saturday afternoon, caused extensive damage to the four-level building, a key outlet for the company known for storing a large quantity of home appliances.

Efforts to fully extinguish the fire were hampered by the collapse of parts of the building's metal structure, making access difficult for the brigades. The head of the Santo Domingo Este Fire Department, General Roberto Santos Méndez, anticipated that the extinguishing efforts would conclude by Sunday. Once the fire is completely out and the structure cools, investigators will begin their work on Monday to determine the cause of the incident.

The fire required the deployment of over 17 units and between 70 and 80 firefighters. A rescue helicopter from the Dominican Air Force was also utilized, dropping water on hard-to-reach areas. The inferno destroyed not only the store's inventory but also a company truck and a car parked nearby. Despite the scale of the destruction, authorities have reported no deaths or injuries, with all damages currently assessed as material.

This incident marks the second major fire to affect an L&R Comercial branch this year. In February, another fire destroyed their store on Charles de Gaulle Avenue. While the company plans to rebuild the destroyed establishment, citing ownership of both the property and land, no connection has been established between the two fires. The company has yet to provide an economic estimate of the losses incurred from the latest incident.