Thick black smoke rising above the city frightened the residents of Nitra. On Friday afternoon, shortly after 3:00 p.m., a massive fire broke out across a large area of the former barracks on Martinský Vrch. According to nitra.zoznam.sk, the fire engulfed the old wooden buildings.
Dozens of professional and volunteer firefighters from Nitra and surrounding villages, including Dražovce, immediately responded to the scene. According to Michaela Gundová, spokesperson for the Nitra Regional Fire and Rescue Service, the flames engulfed structures containing old furniture and equipment.
The municipal executive office was the burning building
The municipal police confirmed that the affected building belongs to the Nitra City Council, and the local government used it as an executive warehouse. Although a huge cloud of smoke was spreading over the city, Mayor Marek Hattas reported upon arriving at the scene that the situation had been brought under control. However, firefighters remained on site, as cooling and extinguishing the smoldering structures was expected to take several more hours to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby trees and other structures.
Safety Measures for Residents
The Nitra Regional Police stated that the incident had not yet resulted in any injuries and did not require a mass evacuation of people from the surrounding area.
However, given the heavy smoke, the authorities issued strong recommendations to the public:
Close windows and doors. Keep windows and doors in houses and apartments tightly closed to prevent harmful combustion byproducts from entering.
Do not go to the scene of the incident. The police have urged the public not to remain in the immediate vicinity of the former barracks and not to hinder the work of emergency services.
The cause of the fire remains unknown and will be the subject of a further investigation once all hot spots have been fully extinguished.
