Crystal Dike
A fire on Thursday forced the evacuation of the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil, after flames rapidly spread through several event pavilions, leaving 13 people treated for smoke inhalation.
Organizers said the blaze was brought under control within about six minutes, but fire officials ordered the evacuation of the entire conference site. The venue remained closed for roughly seven hours before attendees were allowed to return Thursday night.
Participants trickled back in after reopening, some stopping to take photos under the illuminated entrance signage, while others headed back to meeting rooms to resume negotiations or collect belongings. Security personnel kept people away from the damaged area, which was sealed behind barricades and a curtain.
Brazil’s Tourism Minister, Celso Sabino, told reporters that the fire began near the China Pavilion, one of several structures used for side events. Video footage showed flames erupting along a wall near multiple Africa pavilions and the Climate Live Entertainment + Culture Pavilion. The pavilions are reinforced-canvas structures with three walls and flooring, allowing the fire to spread quickly.
Samuel Rubin, a coordinator with the Climate Live pavilion, confirmed that neighboring structures were engulfed in minutes.
Para State Governor Helder Barbalho told local outlet G1 that a generator failure or an electrical short circuit inside a booth may have sparked the blaze.
Much of the COP30 venue had been under construction until the conference opened, with exposed beams, plywood flooring and unfinished corridors still visible. During a pre-summit event, drilling and jackhammering could be heard as leaders delivered speeches, and teams of workers moved through plastic-draped, incomplete pavilions.
Gabi Andrade, a volunteer from Belém who had been working at the accreditation desk for three weeks, said Thursday was her first free afternoon. She had just left lunch and was visiting the Singapore Pavilion when she noticed black smoke. A security guard pulled her toward an exit as she screamed, “Fire!”
Still shaken, she said the incident weighed heavily on her. “It’s so sad for us,” she said. “We all worked so hard.”