Styrofoam plant catches fire in northern Armenia

An enterprise for the production of styrofoam has caught fire in Vanadzor. The fire has been assigned an increased degree of complexity. So far, it has been localized.

A plant producing styrofoam has caught fire in Vanadzor, the Rescue Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia informs.

The fire signal was received by emergency services at 15:46 local time (14:46 Moscow time). The fire started in one of the workshops of the enterprise.

Extinguishing

At first, two fire crews went to the scene. However, the fire was too powerful. It was assigned an increased level of complexity.  Then, an operational group of rescuers from the regional administration, as well as two more fire crews, went to help their colleagues.

By common efforts, the fire was localized at 16:20 (15:20 Moscow time).

About Vanadzor

Vanadzor is the administrative center of the Lori region, located in the north of Armenia. This is the third largest city in the country - after the capital Yerevan and the administrative center of the Shirak region - Gyumri.

On tightening fire safety

On the night of January 19, in the village of Azat in the Gegharkunik region, a fire broke out in a house adapted for a barracks. At the time of its occurrence, all those inside, except for the officer on duty, were asleep. 15 servicemen died, several more people were hospitalized.

According to preliminary data, the tragedy occurred due to a gross violation of fire safety rules. A criminal case has been initiated, several representatives of the leadership have been dismissed. As part of the criminal proceedings, the suspects were detained.

On the same day, the Armenian prime minister instructed to close all facilities where fire safety violations were recorded, not only military, but civilian as well. Nikol Pashinyan stated that earlier the authorities "turned a blind eye" to them so as not to deprive people of their jobs. However, after the deadly events in Gegharkunik, it became clear that this was unacceptable.

The head of government stressed that either investors should invest in the elimination of violations, or sellers should move to another facility.