On April 12, a massive fire broke out at the Nevskaya Manufaktura, a historic factory in St. Petersburg. The blaze spread over a 10,000-square-meter area (more than 107,600 square feet), and the emergency services declared it a “level five” — the hardest type of fire to put out. After 10 hours, firefighters managed to get the blaze under control, though it wasn’t completely extinguished. One firefighter was killed and three others were injured; two of them were hospitalized in serious condition. According to sources in law enforcement, the preliminary assessment is that the fire was caused by arson. The property was handed over for a residential development about a month ago. The authorities have detained both the factory’s director and his deputy in connection with a criminal case for negligence leading to the death of a person.
Anton Vaganov / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
Valentin Egorshin / TASS
Anatoly Maltsev / EPA/ Scanpix / LETA
Ivan Petrov / Kommersant
Valentin Egorshin / TASS
A helicopter drops water on the blaze at the Nevskaya Manufaktura
Russian Emergencies Ministry / TASS
Residents of nearby buildings evacuating during the fire
Ivan Petrov / Kommersant
The view of the Nevskaya Manufaktura on the morning of April 13, nearly 24 hours after the fire
Vasily Smirnov
The Nevskaya Manufaktura
A former weaving factory that was active in the 19th and 20th centuries. The five-story building that burned down was erected in 1861. In 2001, the St. Petersburg authorities included the factory complex in its “List of newly identified facilities of historical, scientific, artistic, or other cultural value.”