Messina, fire damages historic headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce

A fire broke out in the afternoon of November 5 at the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce of Messina, affecting the upper floors and part of the building’s roof. According to 98zero, a section of the roof reportedly collapsed under the action of the flames; the building was evacuated and no injuries have been reported. The causes of the fire remain to be determined.

At present, the news on this matter comes from a single source (98zero); no independent confirmation is currently available.

The building affected is no ordinary structure within the urban fabric of Messina. The Chamber of Commerce headquarters belongs to the group of constructions built in the first half of the twentieth century during the city’s reconstruction following the earthquake of December 28, 1908, one of the most devastating seismic events in European history, which razed much of Messina and Reggio Calabria to the ground. The public buildings erected during that phase — town halls, institutional headquarters, commercial palaces — still constitute today an architectural heritage that tells the story of the city’s rebirth along the Strait, often featuring experimental anti-seismic solutions for the time.

Damage to the roof and upper floors of a building of this kind does not only affect the administrative functionality of the institution occupying it, but also touches upon the preservation of a historical heritage concentrated in an urban area where pre-1908 testimonies are almost entirely absent. The assessment of the extent of structural damage and the timeline for any restoration is not yet known.

At present, only two elements have been confirmed: the absence of injuries and the damage to the roof. Every other detail — from the extent of internal damage to the causes of the fire — requires confirmation that, as things stand, is not available from sources beyond the one cited.