Round 

Table: Twenty years after the fire that claimed the lives 
of more than four hundred people
A: Good afternoon partners, how are you? Today we will talk
about one of the greatest tragedies that occurred in our country.
B:Good afternoon everybody, that’s right today we have to talk
about the Round Table tragedy.
C: Round table was one of the tragedies that claimed the most
victims at that time.
D: Yes, that’s right, that’s why today each of us will remember and
comment on the events that occurred in this tragedy
A:The lessons learned and the pending that left us the fire that ha
ppened on the twenty-ninth of December of the two mill one
Tragedies are measured by the inaccuracy of their first figures and
the chaos. The first reports of the RoundTable fire spoke of 67
dead. At 48 hours, the official report rose to more than 280. Now it
is known that there were more than four hundred victims of the
incident.
The smell of charred bodies will not be erased from their olfactory
memory for the photographers, firefighters and policemen who
arrived that night of December 29, 20 years ago. to ashes to mud
That formless and chewy mass in which the bodies were
converted.
And everything originated from a “chocolate”, a pyrotechnic that
was tested inside a gallery that in turn was a fireworks warehouse.
Everything happened just one kilometer from the Main Square in
Lima.
B: The firemen had a water supply for the pumps; In addition,
Sedapal and the municipalities provided support with tank trucks.
The problem was getting to the heart of the emergency: while the
men in red tried to advance to fight hell and save lives, street
vendors and merchants blocked the way with their wheelbarrows.
His concern was to save his merchandise. Paradoxically, many
locked themselves in the buildings, refusing to dispose of their
products. In that time, the fire consumed two apples together.

Former Commander Nicolini believes that he could have acted

faster without the crowd against him. Our lack of citizenship taking
its toll on us.They were New Year's Eve parties and President
Alejandro Toledo was with his family at the Punta Sal beach
(Tumbes). Nicolini kept him informed of the events and at three in
the morning, Toledo was already at the scene of the tragedy.
The head of state would declare national mourning for the victims
(Sunday, December 30 and Monday, December 31) and would
announce the ban on the production and sale of fireworks in the
country.
C: Here is the data: that year only 1,100 tons of pyrotechnic
products had been imported through the official channel. The then
mayor of Lima, Alberto Andrade (who was in Spain), welcomed
the measure.
The fire started around six in the afternoon, in a store in the
commercial gallery at number 877 of Street Andahuaylas, at the
intersection with Street Cusco, in Barrios Altos.
What allowed the fire to spread (which would collapse 25
buildings, including 15 shopping malls) were the buildings that had
environments conditioned as warehouses, where a lot of
flammable and pyrotechnic material was stored, so in demand at
the time for the New Year's Eve parties.
Two decades after the fire, Nicolini regrets that the number of
street vendors around the Central Market and Round Table
increases at the end of the year parties. “That is inevitable, and it
is not up to us (firefighters). It is a security factor that depends on
Civil Defense or the respective municipality,” he says.
D: But have we learned from this lesson? “We haven't learned
anything, sir. Because we are still irresponsible in these things.
That is the truth”, emphasizes Tulio Nicolini, who will always
remember Round Table, which was one of the biggest
emergencies he had to cover in his more than 50 years of active
service.
Montenegro points out that Peru has adopted the fire protection
industry standards of the United States, excluding, for example,
the European standards.
A positive impact of the fire in Round Table is that today the fires
caused by pyrotechnics are not as shocking or sinister as those
that occurred in 2001, since there is better regulation by the
National Superintendence of Control of Security Services,
Weapons, Ammunition and Explosives for Civil Use (Sucamec).
“There are only small mafias left that manufacture and sell
pyrotechnics in a more personalized way on the illegal market.
A: Well, after having remembered this Tragedy we will ask some
questions.
What is the best memorial for it?
B: I think that the best memorial for them would be a statue in a
square and that it be in honor of the deceased of Round Table
C: That this event be remembered more, especially on dates
where these products are sold en masse, such as Christmas and
New Year because it can make us a little more aware, especially
on those dates.
A: Evelyn for you, What would you like people to feel?
D: I would like them to feel a little more respect and awareness
about the use of fireworks, how dangerous and harmful they can
be.
A: Alvaro for you, Why is it important for people to remember or
commemorate the event?
C: Because this event happened due to the incorrect use of
fireworks by informal sellers, which to this day people continue to
use irresponsibly.