Firefighters have the building fire in Zlín under control, extinguishing continues

Building – Building number 34 with 11 above-ground floors in the former Baťa industrial complex caught fire on Thursday morning. It gradually collapsed in two places, with less than half of it still standing. The fire likely started on the ninth floor in a shoe warehouse of the company Vasky. From there, the fire spread to other floors and to the roof. "Monitoring by drones is still ongoing on site. We have deployed 15 units of professional and volunteer firefighters here," stated Řezníček.

Firefighters, several hundreds of whom have rotated at the fire, are dousing the debris of the partially collapsed building with water. "Water is being sourced from the Dřevnice, so a pumping station has been set up there. We are conducting firefighting from the ground, while we are still calculating with aerial support," added the firefighter spokesman.

Helicopters were dropping water on the fire scene even during Thursday. Due to the risk of further parts of the building collapsing, firefighters are not allowed to approach it within less than 70 meters. If the remainder of the structure does not fall on its own, demolition will be necessary, according to earlier statements by the firefighters.

The material damages caused will be significant, as the building housed storage and offices. The cause of the fire will be investigated by detectives along with firefighter investigators. It is unclear when they will be able to start examining the fire scene, as the building is still burning. Police spokesperson Monika Kozumplíková believes this will be possible no earlier than Monday. According to her, finding out the extent of the damage caused by the fire will likely take a long time. "I don't dare to predict when that will be. There were too many companies involved. It will take a while for them to calculate it and for someone to assess the damage to the building," said Kozumplíková to ČTK today.

According to her, the police currently have information about an estimated damage to the stored shoes of the company Vasky ranging from 60 to 80 million crowns. The owner and founder of the company, Václav Staněk, told ČTK on Thursday that there were about 75,000 pairs of shoes, clothing, and accessories from the brands Vasky and Botas in the warehouse with a retail value of 150 to 180 million crowns. The manufacturing is located elsewhere. The company Alpine Pro, which outfits the Czech Olympic team, had goods stored in the facility worth over half a billion crowns, said the company's owner Václav Hrbek on Thursday.

Zlín’s mayor Korec stated today on social media that the oldest part of building 34 remained. "It is still smoldering and is burning in places, so I ask you all to keep your windows closed until Monday if you smell smoke. The current traffic restrictions in the area around the building and also on the waterfront, where water is being drawn, will remain in effect at least until Monday," said Korec.

The building was constructed at the turn of the 40s and 50s of the last century as a central storage facility for shoes. It was built on a site that was bombed during World War II.