Zlín to demolish remains of burned-out skyscraper at former Baťa factory site

Zlín's building authority has ordered the immediate demolition of the remaining part of the burned and partially collapsed high-rise building on the site of the former Baťa industrial complex in the city centre. The city council announced the decision on social media on Thursday. Firefighters only managed to fully extinguish the massive blaze on Wednesday afternoon — two weeks after it broke out.

The building's owner, the Cream company, had earlier stated its readiness to take the site back. According to the company, demolishing the burned-out structure would take several weeks, and a specialised firm has already been selected for the job. However, firefighters have not yet handed the building back to its owner.

"The building authority has ordered the immediate demolition of the remaining part of Building 34. The document has been sent to Cream's email system. The ban on entering the entire area, which the owner of the destroyed site has already fenced off, remains in force," the city council said in its statement. Firefighters will remain on site until a decision is made on handing the building back to its owner. The exact date has not yet been set, but it is expected to happen before the end of the week, the council added.

Cream's marketing and communications director, Marcel Schmidt, confirmed receipt of the building authority's decision. "As soon as we've reviewed the document, we'll announce our next steps," he said. Earlier, on Monday, an order was issued requiring the site to be fenced off — Cream has already installed a fence and CCTV cameras.

The building housed Cream's own office as well as numerous warehouses and office spaces. The fire broke out on the morning of 9 July, reportedly on the ninth floor, in a storage unit leased by the footwear company Vasky, from where it spread to other floors and the roof. After the building collapsed in two places, roughly half of the structure remained standing.

Vasky founder Václav Staněk said the warehouse had contained around 75,000 pairs of shoes, along with clothing and accessories from the Vasky and Botas brands, with a total market value of between 150 and 180 million crowns. According to Alpine Pro owner Václav Grbek, the building also held merchandise belonging to his company worth more than half a billion crowns.

The Packeta group, which operates the Zásilkovna delivery service, lost around nine thousand parcels — the exact scale of the damage has not been disclosed. Equator Cycling, a bicycle manufacturer and repair company, was also affected: according to its owner Milan Šimek, losses ranged from five to ten million crowns. The fire also hit sporting goods retailer Sportisimo.

The cause of the fire and the full extent of the damage have yet to be determined. No injuries were reported. Police are investigating the incident on suspicion of negligent endangerment of public safety, an offence that carries a prison sentence of up to five years if guilt is established.

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Source: ct24.ceskatelevize.cz