Firefighters Battle Large Blaze at Sprawling Mexican Market

A firefighter works to extinguish a fire at the Central de Abasto wholesale market, the main food distribution center, in Mexico City on April 6, 2023. Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo

MEXICO CITY—Some 200 firefighters battled a huge blaze in Mexico City’s sprawling wholesale market Thursday night without any reported injuries.

The Central de Abasto supplies the capital’s other neighborhood markets, restaurants, and other parts of the country.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said the fire started in an area of the market where wooden pallets and crates are built and stored, meaning there was substantial fuel on a breezy evening.

Flames leaped high into the night sky fed by swirling winds, but firefighters reported having the fire mostly under control after several hours.

The market’s administration said in a statement late Thursday that the fire started around 7 p.m. and affected an area that included 359 stands that produced and sold cardboard boxes, wooden crates and pallets.

A firefighter breaches a wall to help extinguish a fire at the Central de Abasto wholesale market, the main food distribution center, in Mexico City on April 6, 2023. Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo

The rest of the market selling produce and flowers would operate as usual Friday, the administration added via Twitter.

The market covers more than 800 acres (327 hectares) in the capital’s most populated borough, Iztapalapa, and claims to be the world’s largest wholesale market. Thirty percent of Mexico’s food production is sold through the market, according to its website.