Fire Destroys Key Pavilion for Expo ’92

A fire on Tuesday destroyed Spain’s keystone theme pavilion, under construction at the island site of Expo ’92 in Seville, and disappointed officials said there is no chance it can be rebuilt in time for the six-month world’s fair beginning April 20.

Officials said the fast-spreading fire started with a worker’s blowtorch or soldering gun as exhibits were being installed in the four-story exhibition hall, the second-largest at the 530-acre fairgrounds being built for the Seville Universal Exhibition.

Spain has been disconcerted by terrorist threats to yearlong extravaganzas that will mark the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first voyage to the New World. But officials ruled out any chance that Tuesday’s blaze had been deliberately set.

The fire was thought to have started about 2 p.m. in the roof of the 36,000-square-foot hall entitled “Discovery Pavilion.” It soon overwhelmed the fair’s own fire department.

“The pavilion is totally ruined,” Expo chief executive Jacionto Pellon told Spanish reporters.

The hall was the largest of five Spanish pavilions being hurried to completion on Cartuja Island in the Guadalquivir River that courses through the southern Spanish city. It was to have introduced visitors to the themes of the $1.4-billion fair, giving them a fantasy overview of humankind’s discoveries over the centuries.

Virgilio Zapatero, the Spanish minister in charge of national celebrations that will include the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, flew hurriedly to the Expo site from Madrid. “This is a fair with more than 90 pavilions. The theme of discovery is present in all of them,” he said, putting the best face on a significant loss to an exposition that hopes to draw 18 million visitors before it closes Oct. 12.

Officials promise that Expo ’92 will open complete and on time, displaying exhibits by 110 countries, including 63 that are building their own pavilions.