The Risk of Fire in Twin Buildings of the Ouro Preto Historic Center: World Heritage

Abstract

UNESCO recognized the set of historic buildings of Ouro Preto in 1980 giving it the title of World Cultural Heritage. Following Portuguese colonial construction method on steep slopes, the first inhabitants built buildings underpinning one another. Construction materials were local quartzite stones and gross wood pieces. These remaining twin buildings sets scattered over the city are especially important scenes of contemporary Ouro Preto and motivated its recognition by UNESCO. The aim of this work is to make a brief evaluation of fire safety policies in Ouro Preto evidencing fire risk parameters on important sets. It was found that actual occupation of the buildings generates an important fire risk. Awareness of the population is expressed by citizen’s movements asking national and municipal authorities to pay attention to fire safety. The Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) has made efforts to tackle this issue in building’s conservation guidelines. But there is much more to be done to reduce fire risk on these historic buildings in order to set them at an admissible level.

This text was originally published in the Annals of the 1st International Congress on Urban Heritage of Humanity/1st International Symposium on World Heritage of Minas Gerais in the international context. UFJF 2020.