City Hall Thinks There Is No Need to Investigate the Fire at 1/3 Buzand Street

On August 13, a fire broke out in the basement of the second building of the City Hall at 1/3 Buzand Street in Yerevan. After the incident, no official investigation has been conducted, and the information regarding the presence of documents in the burned area from the City Hall and other institutions contradicts each other. This was reported by "Hetq".

The City Hall stated that a partial outbreak and smoke were recorded around 18:05, when most employees were no longer in the building. However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations informed "Hetq" that the alarm was received at the 112 operational management center at 18:20.

A total of five firefighting units, one fire ladder, and about 40 rescuers were dispatched to the scene. The fire was isolated by 20:25 and extinguished by 21:00. Approximately 150 citizens were evacuated from the building.

According to the City Hall's clarification, the burned area was a 60 square meter section belonging to the community property of "Yerevan Project" LLC, which mainly contained damaged computers and old, used household items. The City Hall has assured that no archival or other types of documents were kept in that area, and the archive is located on the 8th floor of the building.

Meanwhile, the State Inspection Body for Urban Development, Technical and Fire Safety stated that, according to information received from the rescuers, there were folders and books at the fire site.

No investigation has been conducted by the police regarding the incident, nor has any legal action been initiated. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported no complaints had been received.

The City Hall linked the cause of the fire to fluctuations in electricity, stating, "There has been no necessity to start an investigation or an inspection regarding this fact, as no significant damage has been inflicted on the administrative building or property."

"Hetq" posed 21 questions to the City Hall, but according to the media outlet, many of them went unanswered. In particular, it has not been clarified whether the archival documents are digitized and have backup copies, whether fire safety requirements for the archive have been maintained, and when the fire safety of the building was last checked.

The inspection body has stated that the address 1/3 Buzand was not included in their inspection plan. The City Hall could have applied to the inspection body for an investigation, but no such application has been made. Simultaneously, the inspection body plans to conduct a review at the mentioned address following the fire.

Thus, as "Hetq" notes, after a fire lasting approximately 2.5 hours and covering an area of 60 square meters, no official investigation has been launched, and the information regarding the presence of folders and books in the basement remains unclear.

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