The fire engulfed a small fast food restaurant. Firefighters pulled out two unconscious women from the flames, who were resuscitating them on the street. They ended up in the hospital with severe burns.
ZAKOPANÉ: The most visited and busiest street in Poland – the legendary Krupówki in the Tatra mountain resort of Zakopane – experienced a dramatic evening. A fire broke out in the “Mini – Szałas” fast food restaurant on Krupówki Street early Friday evening.
The cause of the fire was ignition and gas explosion in the kitchen. During the rescue operation, firefighters rescued two unconscious women from the restaurant. They were probably restaurant workers. Thanks to resuscitation, the paramedics revived them and they were taken to the hospital in serious condition.
Rescuing two people from the flames
The fire broke out around 6:00 p.m. in the upper part of Krupówki Street. A small wooden restaurant measuring 7 x 7 meters was on fire there.
“When the first fire brigades arrived, the fire was already in full swing. Flames engulfed the roof of this small wooden building. Information gathered from passers-by at the scene indicated that there could be injured people inside. Initial reports indicated that there could be three people. In the end, it turned out that the victims were two women in their 50s,” fire department representative Tygodnik Podhalański told local newspaper Tygodnik Podhalański Andrzej Król-Łęgowski from Zakopane.
Firefighters pulled both women out of the burning building, they were unconscious at the time. The fight to save their lives began immediately. When the rescuers restored their vital functions using resuscitation, the injured women were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Zakopane. Their health condition remains serious. They suffered serious respiratory burns and are in the intensive care unit.
According to the Zakopane fire department, they are most likely restaurant workers. Fortunately, there were no customers in the restaurant at the time of the fire.
A gas explosion is likely behind the fire
The fire almost completely destroyed the wooden building. Firefighters also had to prevent the flames from spreading to neighboring wooden buildings. The restaurant was connected to another wooden building and on the other side to the brick building of the bank. In addition to other commercial establishments, there were also apartments.
Fighting the fire was risky because there were gas cylinders inside the restaurant. Firefighters had to dismantle most of the structure’s burned roof structure to get to the smoldering parts of the building.
Firefighters finally managed to determine the probable cause of the fire. The dynamics of the fire indicated that it could have been caused by a gas leak and ignition, informed firefighter Andrzej Król-Łęgowski after the intervention. Later in the evening, the fire brigade confirmed with certainty that the fire was caused by a gas leak from a pressure cylinder or a furnace during the exchange of gas cylinders in the restaurant’s kitchen.
