Fifteen rescued as fire breaks out in Prague apartment block in Nusle

A fire broke out in a panel apartment block on Kotorská Street in Prague's Nusle district on Sunday evening, September 27. Firefighters and police rescued 15 people, one of whom suffered burns and was handed over to paramedics.

Fire spread to the floor above

The blaze began in a sixth-floor apartment of the 12-story building and quickly spread to the apartment above. Thick smoke poured from the building and was visible from a distance. Emergency services received the call around 6 p.m. and declared the second of four fire-alert levels.

Firefighters pulled one resident directly out of the burning apartment and handed them over to paramedics, who recorded a first-degree burn to the arm. Ten other people were examined for possible smoke inhalation, but none showed signs of exposure.

Traffic blocked, damage estimated at 1.5 million crowns

Residents of the upper floors were evacuated, and police restricted traffic around the building; the restrictions were expected to last about an hour. Firefighters brought the blaze under control within 20 minutes of the first unit's arrival and prevented it from spreading further. Operations at the scene wrapped up at 8:18 p.m.

According to preliminary estimates, damage amounted to 1.5 million crowns. The cause of the fire is still being determined.

This fire came a day after another blaze in an apartment building on Francouzská Street, where firefighters rescued eight people and tram traffic was suspended for more than two hours.

Source: expats.cz