Hundreds of people had to be evacuated this Wednesday (26th) from the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy, as a result of intense black smoke from a chimney in the west wing of the museum, which is one of the main ones in the country.
The evacuation of people started around 10:30 am (local time) and, according to the museum, was a “precautionary measure”. The firefighters arrived in Uffizi after a few minutes and declared that the problem “was not at all serious”.
German Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi, explained what happened at the museum and thanked the firefighters for their intervention.
“After the routine maintenance of a boiler engine, more diesel was burned than normal, which caused more smoke emission. The black smoke that everyone saw caught the attention of the municipal police, whom I thank, who called the firefighters and we evacuated 400 people in four minutes, “said Schmidt.
Firefighters who were on the scene also reported that the dense smoke was caused by the “malfunction” of a boiler used for heating and air conditioning.
After about half an hour from the arrival of the local authorities, visitors were able to continue their visit to the museum, one of the most important in Italy. Despite the moments of tension, the Uffizi reported that all security protocols were followed without any major problems.
