A catastrophic blaze has swept through the Marywilska 44 shopping complex in Warsaw, leaving nothing but charred remains. The fire, which erupted early in the morning, rapidly consumed the 250 by 250-meter hall due to the highly flammable materials stored within, primarily textiles.
Chief Commander of the State Fire Service, Brigadier General Mariusz Feltynowski, informed during a press briefing that around 180 firefighters have been deployed to tackle the inferno. Despite the magnitude of the fire, there have been no reported injuries. The firefighting operation is expected to continue for several hours, possibly even lasting into the night.
Potężny pożar centrum handlowego Marywilska 44 w Warszawie. @RepublikaTV pic.twitter.com/GVpXeWna9u
— Adrian Borecki (@AdrianBorecki01) May 12, 2024
Interestingly, the initial alarm was raised not by a human caller but by the complex’s automatic monitoring system at about 3:30 AM. Firefighting units arrived at the scene just 11 minutes later, by which time two-thirds of the hall was already engulfed in flames.
“The rapid spread of the fire is unusual and its cause is currently unknown,” stated Feltynowski. Experts are being called in to determine the origin of the fire and to assess why internal safety systems that could have prevented the spread of the fire might have failed.