Shopping Tijuca Fire: Partial Reopening Authorized as Police Probe Alarm Failure Claims

Overview

• - Municipal Civil Defense granted a temporary lifting of the ban on the subfloor and 17 ground-floor stores to allow emergency works, with definitive reopening contingent on a completed technical report.
• - A new Fire Department inspection verified repairs to hydrants, sprinklers, and detection and alarm systems, authorizing partial desinterdiction while keeping the subfloor and part of L1 closed under ongoing oversight.
• - Police have received mall security footage, took the brigade chief’s statement on Monday, and scheduled testimony from the mall’s superintendent and other witnesses tied to the first response and the Bell'Art store.
• - The CM Couto brigade’s lawyer says the store alarm did not work and questions who called the fire brigade; the mall says it made three calls between 6:12 p.m. and 6:22 p.m., leaving the exact timeline under review.
• - Shop staff entered with masks for cleaning and damage assessments, reporting heavy soot, persistent smoke odors, and spoiled inventory, as the mall prepares for a reopening in the coming days without a set date.