On Sunday morning, a tenement house in the center of Cieszyn at Wiedza Street collapsed due to a gas explosion. The two-story building was in ruins and fire broke out. Several people were evacuated from neighboring houses.
On Sunday morning, a two-story tenement house collapsed. At 7 a.m., firefighters were still extinguishing the fire in the building that collapsed. – Rescuers from the search group can be expected to enter the tenement house once the fire has been extinguished and the building's structure has been assessed to see if it poses a threat. We have to wait to make sure they get inside safely. You should be aware that these are old buildings and the structural stability of which is difficult to determine – said the spokesman for the Cieszyn firefighters, Senior Asst. Jakub Maciążek.
– The fire also spread to neighboring buildings, from which 17 people were evacuated – added Maciążek.
The mayor of Cieszyn, Gabriela Staszkiewicz, is also at the crash site and announced that the rubble will be searched to check whether there are any people there. – The fire in the tenement house is being extinguished. The sides of two neighboring houses are also on fire. (…) We have a list of people who may have been in the building. The absence of two was confirmed. One is at work and the other is in the hospital. As for the rest, we have no confirmation of where they are. The rubble will be searched, said Staszkiewicz.
The mayor informed that a bus had been provided to transport the evacuees “to our youth shelter.”
“Very difficult” action by firefighters
Former spokesman for the Chief Commander of the State Fire Service, Paweł Frątczak, said on TVN24 that the firefighters' action was “very difficult”. The reason for this is, among others, the fact that the tenement house was located in the city center among compact buildings. The elements that spread the fire very quickly were “flammable ceilings and a flammable staircase due to their age.”
– Another critical element is the fact that the fire occurred at night – he added. He stated that “the fire is very intense” and it will be “an operation lasting many hours.”
Over 100 firefighters on site
Spokesman Ministry of Interior and Administration Jacek Dobrzyński announced on social media that nearly 100 firefighters are taking part in the activities, including the Specialist Search and Rescue Group of the State Fire Service with rescue dogs. He said that the Chief Commander of the State Fire Service, Brigadier Mariusz Feltynowski, was going to the scene of the incident.
Wiedza Street is approximately 400 meters long and runs from the main square of the city to the immediate vicinity of the border bridge with Czech Republic. Along it, on both sides, there are adjacent tenement houses.
Main photo source: Provincial Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Katowice