Firefighters in Prague have declared a third degree fire alarm, as Sunday’s warehouse fire, which raged in Uhříněves, demanded the presence of 16 firefighter squads. The fire in question has been declared to be under control by the firemen late in the afternoon. The warehouse in question contained stocks for drugstores. These products are often highly flammable, which helped the fire reach its gigantic scale. The warehouse had about 300 square metres of space before it got completely engulfed in flames. All citizens living near the inferno were advised to not open their windows and stay at home. The fight with the flames demanded so much water, that the supply of it from the fire hydrants had to be subsidized by constant deliveries of water from nearby water sources by the fire trucks. The firemen also utilized some of their high-altitude machinery to fight the fire from the above. The smoke was visible from as far as 30 kilometres away. The chemical makeup of the smoke was closely monitored to determine its toxicity. It is likely that the fight with the fire will not be over for days as the collapsed construction of the building stands in the way of the firefighting efforts. Luckily the fire did not spread to other buildings, nor did anyone get any long term injuries. Since the damages done are estimated to mount up to 120 million crowns, both the fire and police departments are investigating the source of the fire.
