‘Not now, buddy’: Aftermath of Volgograd market fire

In Volgograd, on the evening of January 27, trading pavilions caught fire at the wholesale construction market in the Tulaka microdistrict. According to MChS (Ministry of Emergency Situations), the fire covered 1,500 square meters, engulfing part of the Volgino development area. The open flames were only extinguished by morning. While MChS employees are investigating the cause of the fire, the owners of what were just yesterday intact pavilions, struggling to hold back emotions, are clearing debris and trying to calculate the cost of the fire.

MChS employees, who are determining the cause of the fire, shared that the blaze started in the southern part of the building. The flames there destroyed the roof and part of the wall. A man in camouflage pants is wandering around here—according to traders, he is the owner of a tool warehouse. The man declined to give any comments.

The Main Directorate of MChS of Russia for the Volgograd region commented on the evening incident very laconically:

— On January 27 at 20:24, a report of a fire in the Sovetsky District of Volgograd was received by the dispatcher of the fire and rescue service. A warehouse with an area of 1,500 square meters was burning. Units of the 4th fire and rescue station extinguished the fire at 02:40. There are no fatalities or injuries. The cause of the fire is being determined.

What was spared by the fire was hopelessly ruined by soot, grime, and water that got onto the goods during firefighting. The owner of the Santekstil store, bitterly surveying what just yesterday was highly profitable merchandise, today only muttered in response to a request to tell what happened: «Not up for you now, buddy. Go, ask someone else»…

Recall that earlier we wrote that the fire consumed an area of 1,500 square meters, and the rescuers who arrived at the scene managed to combat the blaze at 02:40. We collected video and stories from eyewitnesses in a separate material.