10 minutes late
A message about the fire in the Mega Khimki shopping center at Khimki city district, Leningradskoe shosse, 23rd kilometer, building 1 reached the emergency services at 05:59 in the morning. reported At the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergencies of the Moscow Region.
in a separate report
see photo
In the building of the shopping complex are the OBI hypermarket, Auchan, Mega and dozens of other stores.
The head of TsUKS GUMChS of the Moscow Region, Ivan Gusev, said that the first firefighters arrived at the scene at 6:19 in the morning – 20 minutes after the fire alarm went off, the hypermarket “had a burning roof”.
By regulationsIn urban settlements and urban neighborhoods, the arrival time of the first unit should not exceed 10 minutes. So the firemen were 10 minutes late.
However, a firefighter at the scene told Shot that the first fire department was at the hypermarket at 6:02 am.
According to the emergency services of RIA Novosti, the aviation of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia was put on alert. As the Baza Telegram channel explained, it became impossible to use it due to explosions in the building.
Difficulties with explosions and extinguishing
According to the channel, the fire started in the warehouse of the OBI store, where furniture and wooden structures are located. Then the fire covered the entire area of the supermarket, explosions began.
A source from the emergency services told RIA Novosti that paint and varnish products – paint cans and aerosols – were exploding.
“Due to the collapse of the roof and the sudden access of oxygen, strong convective currents were created. As a result, the fire spread over a wide area in a short time,” the source explained.
He added that the extinguishing process was complicated due to the structural features of the building and the collapse of the roof. A total of 41 pieces of equipment and about 130 people took part in extinguishing the fire.
According to TASS, the fire almost completely destroyed the OBI hypermarket – only the supporting structures of the frame remained. First, the Ministry of Emergency Situations assigned the third – increasing – degree of complexity to the fire in Mega Khimki. However, it soon promoted him to fourth place out of five possible.
According to Baza, personnel from the Ministry of Emergencies were temporarily evacuated from the building due to the explosions and collapses. The channel also posted a video of one of the explosions, with people fleeing from the debris thrown out of the store.
cause of fire
At the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergencies of the Moscow Region reportedThat at 08:25 it was possible to localize the fire in an area of 7,000 square meters.
Then, in the press service of the Ministry of Emergencies, TASS was informed about the elimination of open combustion in a hypermarket near Moscow. GSU SK explained to the agency that the maximum fire area is 17,000 square meters.
According to the emergency services of RIA Novosti, one person died in the fire. The prosecutor’s office announced to the agency that the victim was a mall employee.
Moscow District Prosecutor’s Office organized emergency control. The agency’s website states that prosecutors will identify all the circumstances and causes of the incident, as well as assess compliance with the requirements of the law, including fire safety.
“To coordinate the actions of law enforcement and emergency services, the prosecutor of the city of Khimki Denis Andreev went to the scene,” the department said.
The UK has filed a lawsuit over the fact of providing services that do not meet security requirements, TASS reported. According to the department, welding work done here that did not meet safety requirements caused a fire in Mega Khimki.
The All-Russian Association of Insurers RIA Novosti was told that the damage caused by the OBI fire in Khimki, taking into account parked cars, could reach 20-30 billion rubles.
BAZA sources said that the construction work on the roof of Mega Khimki, which caused the fire, was carried out by the contractors of the shopping center. At the same time, no tenant, including OBI, has the right to independently conduct such business. A fire safety check was carried out in the construction hypermarket two weeks ago – no violations were detected.
eyewitnesses
Muscovite Irina, who lives next to the hypermarket, told socialbites.ca that the shopping center is located between residential buildings, parents “willingly walk” in the building with their children in the cold.
“According to observations from a house 200 feet away, the sound of the explosion was thumping, rolling, and wave-like. The 20-storey house shook as in the earthquake. “It looks like an explosion,” the woman said.
According to him, the explosion was around 6:15 am when there were very few people in the mall, but “there is always staff and security prepared for the stores opening.”
Another eyewitness said he was awakened by the sounds of explosions.
“At 6:18 am I woke up with a strong roar and the bed was shaking violently like an earthquake. A resident of Khimki, Anastasia quickly flared up, literally in 10-15 minutes, ”said Anastasia.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.