Eight treated after Prague apartment fire halts trams on Francouzská
A fire in a Vršovice apartment building in central Prague forced rescues by ladder, injured a firefighter and one resident, and halted tram services for over two hours.
A fire broke out on the first floor of a two-storey apartment building on Francouzská street in Prague's Vršovice district on Saturday evening, prompting a second-level alarm out of four, fire brigade spokesman Vojtěch Rotschedl said.
"This is a major incident," Rotschedl told reporters as the operation got under way, saying crews were carrying out rescues by ladder and from inside the building.
The fire, near the Krymská tram stop, was already sending flames from windows with smoke visible from a distance when crews arrived, Deník.cz reported. Firefighters used vehicle-mounted ladders to bring residents down from upper windows, while other teams evacuated people through the building's staircases and set up an assembly point nearby for those evacuated.
Firefighters were called just before 6pm. Paramedics examined eight people at the scene; a woman in her 70s was taken to hospital with a hand injury, and one of the responding firefighters also needed hospital treatment after injuring a hand, ambulance service spokesman Karel Kirs said.
Flames were brought under control by around 6:20pm, Novinky.cz reported, and firefighters said the fire was localised, meaning its spread had been stopped, shortly after 8pm. Crews used a drone fitted with a thermal camera to search the roof structure for hidden hotspots.
The blaze halted car and tram traffic on Francouzská street for more than two hours. Trams on lines 4, 21 and 22 and bus route 135 were diverted between Náměstí Míru and Čechovo náměstí, and police fully closed part of the street, leaving several tram stops temporarily unserved. Normal tram service resumed later that evening, Deník.cz reported.
The cause of the fire and the full extent of the damage had not been determined, fire officials said.
What we know
- Fire broke out on the first floor of an apartment building on Francouzská street in Prague's Vršovice district on Saturday evening
- Eight people were examined by paramedics at the scene
- A woman in her 70s and one firefighter were taken to hospital with hand injuries
- Trams on three lines and a bus route were diverted for more than two hours
- The cause of the fire had not been determined
Why it matters for Europe
Apartment block fires that require rescues by ladder are relatively rare in central Prague, and the disruption to three tram lines and a bus route shows how quickly a single building fire can affect transport across a densely populated part of the city. Vršovice is a dense, mixed residential and commercial district close to the city centre. Saturday's fire came a day before a separate, unrelated blaze forced another rescue operation in the nearby Nuslí district, underlining how often Prague's fire crews respond to apartment fires on a typical weekend.
Sources
Reported by 4 reports from 4 independent outlets in 1 countries.
- Novinky.cz: Z domu na pražských Vinohradech stoupal hustý dým. Hasiči zachraňovali lidi okny
- ČT24: Požár bytu v centru Prahy omezil provoz tramvají
- Deník.cz: V pražských Vršovicích hořel bytový dům, několik lidí skončilo v péči lékařů
- Expats.cz: Eight rescued as apartment fire halts trams in central Prague
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Questions and answers
- Where did the Prague apartment fire break out?
- On Francouzská street in the Vršovice district of central Prague, on the first floor of a two-storey building.
- How many people were hurt?
- Eight people were examined by paramedics; a woman in her 70s and one firefighter were taken to hospital with hand injuries.
- How long was tram service disrupted?
- Trams on three lines and a bus route were diverted for more than two hours before normal service resumed.
This article was written with AI assistance from 4 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.