According to the police, the damage after Monday’s hall fire was 1.8 billion kroner, the fourth highest since 1990. The police estimate is higher than the firefighters’ initial estimate of 1.5 billion kroner. Police are investigating the extensive blaze at the production hall, which broke out before noon on Monday, as a general threat caused by negligence. But criminal investigators are working with two versions, one of negligence and the other of technical error. If convicted, the offender faces up to eight years in prison.
At night, with the help of a thermal camera, they searched for hidden places under the collapsed parts of the building. At the same time, they removed a part of the burnt hall’s reinforced concrete structure with heavy equipment. They will continue their intervention on Tuesday.
“We removed part of the structure overnight that was previously inaccessible by land or air. We searched for hidden fos with the help of a thermal camera, and there are many more of them. Ten units, more than 30 firefighters and six tankers are now on the scene,” said the news after 06:00. The spokesperson said. On Monday, 154 firefighters from 25 units, with 33 tankers at their disposal, attended the fire. Responding firefighters must now respond carefully and slowly. The fire was no longer burning, and no smoke could be seen from a distance, but the fireplace was still smoking, Sýkora added.
Firefighters downgraded the fire alarm to level two around 8 p.m. Monday, with some units returning to the site later. Around 25 firemen and a helicopter accompanied by a Bombayvac are at the scene to douse the fire. While fighting the fire, one firefighter suffered minor injuries, two suffered from smoke inhalation and several suffered dehydration. The hall is owned by Novares CZ Zebrak. Fire department spokesman John Sikora said the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
“The whole hall, production line and material burned, the damage is tentatively determined by the owner, it may still change,” said Sýkora. According to him, firefighters have saved values worth 100 million crowns.
After the units arrived, the hall was completely engulfed in flames and later collapsed. Firefighters tried to prevent the fire from spreading further. Around 3:00 PM, the fire spread rapidly. Thick black smoke billowed from the scene of the fire. The chemical laboratory from Kamenice monitored the air condition on site, and did not measure the increased concentration of harmful substances. A Blackhawk helicopter assisted with a bombardier to extinguish the water, which was dropped into the center of the collapsed hall. 70 employees of the company escaped unharmed after the fire broke out.
Jebrock Hall Fire:
Hall fire in Jebrag. • Video by David Malik, HZS
Manufacture of parts for cars
Novares CZ Zebrak manufactures plastic parts for cars. According to the latest annual report on the collection of documents, the loss deepened to 67 million crowns in 2021 from the previous 22.4 million crowns. The company’s revenue rose from 725 million to almost 903 million crowns. In 2021, it employed 179 people. The company is controlled by French conglomerate Novartis Group. The group includes Novares CZ Janovice, which opened a factory for the production of plastic parts for passenger cars in Janovice nad Úhlavou in Klatovsk in the summer of 2019.
“We can confirm that a fire at one of our suppliers’ manufacturing and storage facilities will affect our production schedule. We are unable to assess the overall impact at this time. We have shared the latest information with our employees and suppliers. At this time, we will not comment further on the situation,” Toyota’s press release said. Spokesperson Tomáš Paroubek said.
One of Novares’ clients, for example, is Toyota. She confirmed that the fire would affect their production. “A fire in the production and storage areas of one of our suppliers will affect our production schedule. We are unable to assess the overall impact at this time. We have shared the latest information with our employees and suppliers. At this time, we will not comment further on the situation,” said Toyota spokesman Tomáš Paroubek. .
“Novares is not a supplier of Skoda Auto, so our production and logistics flow will not be affected,” said Ivana Povolna, representing the car company.
Police had to close the T5 highway in both directions between kilometers 34 and 41 due to the intervention of the fire brigade, with drivers driving around the detour for around three hours.
By far, the most destructive fire in the Czech Republic was at Unipetrol in August 2015, with damage amounting to four billion crowns. The second worst damage was last year’s fire at a hall in Mladá Boleslav where Grupo Antolin Turnov manufactured parts for new cars. The damage is estimated at three billion crowns.
