A major fire broke out in the Avalon shopping center on Traktovaya Street in Irkutsk. The fire covered about 2,500 square meters. 77 firefighters, 25 vehicles and a fire train were deployed. 60 people were evacuated. Strong wind and thick black smoke hindered rescuers, and work was done only from outside because of the risk of collapse. According to the Emergencies Ministry, there are no dead or injured yet, and late reporting of the fire may have helped it spread quickly.

Fire at the Avalon shopping center, located on Traktovaya Street in Irkutsk.
A report of a fire in one of Irkutsk’s largest shopping centers was received by the Ministry of Emergency Situations on Sunday at 20:42 local time. The fire covered an area of approximately 2,500 square meters. Seventy-seven firefighters, 25 units of equipment, and a fire train arrived at the scene. 60 people were evacuated from the building. Extinguishing the blaze was hindered by wind speeds of up to 15 meters per second and a large amount of black smoke. All specialists worked outside the building because of the high likelihood of structural collapse, which had been announced earlier.
There is still no information about any dead or injured.
It is too early to talk about the cause of the fire, but Ministry of Emergency Situations staff are already citing the late report of the fire as one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the flames.
As a reminder, the fire started in a food warehouse with an area of 600 square meters in an annex to the three-story shopping center building.