{"id":13431,"date":"2026-05-19T17:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/?p=13431"},"modified":"2026-05-19T08:59:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T13:59:21","slug":"20th-floor-apartment-fire-in-panama-city-triggers-evacuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/crime-safety\/20th-floor-apartment-fire-in-panama-city-triggers-evacuation\/","title":{"rendered":"20th Floor Apartment on Fire in Panama City Triggers Evacuation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A fire broke out in an apartment on the 20th floor of PH Tower One on Uruguay Avenue early Monday morning. The emergency alarms sounded around 6:30 a.m., jolting residents from their sleep. People scrambled down the emergency stairwells as smoke began filling parts of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some residents grabbed pre-packed evacuation bags and ran outside. Workers from a nearby construction site shouted warnings to those still inside. Confusion and fear dominated the first moments of the crisis, residents told reporters at the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3940.952083258651!2d-79.52751982407129!3d8.97655669108266!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x8faca8e7b4f7d457%3A0xcf10a9a8498900a5!2sPH%20Tower%20One!5e0!3m2!1sen!2spa!4v1779147724937!5m2!1sen!2spa\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>A young woman living on the same floor as the fire said the alarm didn&#8217;t wake her up. The smell of smoke did. &#8220;I woke up to the smoke, actually. It was the apartment across from mine. The truth is I didn&#8217;t wake up to the alarms,&#8221; she said. [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;I called the concierge to ask what was happening, and he sent the firefighters to look for me in my apartment. The construction workers were yelling. I didn&#8217;t realize anything,&#8221; she added. [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>She opened her windows to ventilate the space. That&#8217;s when she noticed the smoke billowing from the neighboring unit. Both apartments sit on the 20th floor of the tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Firefighters Respond From Multiple Stations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Units from the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Panama_City\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Panama Fire Department<\/a> arrived from the Plaza Amador, Carrasquilla, Ricardo Arango and Balboa stations. Crews contained the flames before they could spread to other floors or units. No injuries were reported, though the smoke caused significant discomfort for residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Captain Joseph, search and rescue chief for the Fire Department, confirmed the next steps. &#8220;After finishing extinguishing what is burning, the investigation department enters for its respective investigation,&#8221; he said. [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Residents waited outside the building for hours. Some held pets in their arms. They could not return home until authorities gave the all-clear signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fire-fighters-1200x800-1-1024x683.webp\" alt=\"fire fighters\" class=\"wp-image-10059\" srcset=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fire-fighters-1200x800-1-1024x683.webp 1024w, https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fire-fighters-1200x800-1-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fire-fighters-1200x800-1-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fire-fighters-1200x800-1-150x100.webp 150w, https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fire-fighters-1200x800-1-450x300.webp 450w, https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/fire-fighters-1200x800-1.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Investigators Pinpoint Origin of Blaze<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Personnel from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ministeriopublico.gob.pa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ministry Public Prosecutor Panama<\/a> arrived at the scene and conducted an initial assessment. Officials determined the fire started between the kitchen and laundry area of the affected apartment. The flames remained confined to that single unit, preventing a wider disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The investigation will now focus on determining the exact cause of the fire. Fire department officials said they will examine electrical systems and appliances in the apartment. The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_the_Panama_Canal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Panama City<\/strong> building fire safety<\/a> protocols will also come under review as part of the inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities reminded residents of high-rise buildings to maintain emergency evacuation plans. They also urged people to check smoke detectors regularly. The PH Tower One incident could have been far worse if the fire had spread beyond the 20th floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/crime-safety\/panama-city-authorities-dismantle-illegal-bar-in-condado-del-rey\/\" rel=\"internal\"><strong>Panama City<\/strong><\/a> Fire Department continues its standard procedure of keeping the scene secure until the investigation concludes. Residents affected by smoke damage may need to find temporary accommodations while repairs are made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fire broke out in an apartment on the 20th floor of PH Tower One on Uruguay Avenue early Monday morning. The emergency alarms sounded around 6:30 a.m., jolting residents from their sleep. People scrambled down the emergency stairwells as smoke began filling parts of the building. Some residents grabbed pre-packed evacuation bags and ran<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[4378,4376,4377,4379],"class_list":{"0":"post-13431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-safety","8":"tag-fire-evacuation","9":"tag-panama-city-apartment-fire","10":"tag-ph-tower-one","11":"tag-ph-tower-one-evacuation","12":"post_format-post-format-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13431"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13438,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431\/revisions\/13438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}