A fire that burned for 37 hours in Taiwan has caused extensive
damage to an office complex packed with high-technology companies,
including Acer, the island's largest brand-name PC
manufacturer.
Local press reports estimate that the damage caused by the fire may
total TWD2bn (£43m) or more. There were no injuries among the
companies' staff, but two firefighters were slightly injured
putting out the blaze. The complex, called the Eastern Science
Park, is in Hsichih, to the east of Taipei.
"The buildings are just charred remains," said Lauren Swartz, an
Acer spokeswoman. "It's a charred mess, there's broken glass
everywhere and emergency vehicles are still parked outside."
Although Acer's corporate offices were unaffected by the fire,
several of the company's subsidiaries were hit, including AOpen,
which designs and manufactures motherboards, HiTrust, an Internet
security company, Servex Group, a network of IT product
distributors and, Pivotal Communications, which develops voice
software for routers, and Apacer Technology, which designs and
manufactures memory modules.
On May 14, the Acer subsidiaries affected by the fire were working
from temporary offices, said Swartz, adding that the company does
not expect product delivery to be adversely affected by the
blaze.
Acer initially estimated that the fire caused damage totaling
TWD670m, including TWD440m in structural damage and TWD230m in
damage to equipment and inventory. Acer's fire insurance will limit
the company's losses to TWD130m.
However, it now says those estimates appear to be high. "It's not
as bad as they first thought," said Swartz, adding that precise
figures had yet to be determined.
Factors blamed for the extensive damage caused by the fire include
high winds from tropical storm Cimaron, which passed to the east of
Taiwan on Sunday, and the lack of ladders high enough to reach the
floors that were on fire.
Taiwan's premier Chang Chun-hsiung has ordered a task force, headed
by minister-without-portfolio Chen Chin-huan, to investigate the
causes of the fire and to recommend measures to prevent a similar
disaster in the future.