WORKING VERSION

PETER

The five-domed temple built in the first third of the 19th century, located in the very center of St. Petersburg, caught fire at about five in the evening on August 25. The fire was assigned the third, and literally in a matter of minutes - the fourth number of complexity on a five-point scale ...

The five-domed temple built in the first third of the 19th century, located in the very center of St. Petersburg, caught fire at about five in the evening on August 25. The fire was assigned the third, and literally in a matter of minutes - the fourth number of complexity according to a five-point system. And although now representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations say that they did everything possible and impossible, by half past five, according to official figures, only 25 units of fire equipment were involved at the scene. Only after a while there were thirty of them, then up to forty.

Hundreds of Petersburgers gathered on the banks of the nearby Fontanka River. However, the smoke and the domes that engulfed the cathedral were not even tongues - columns of flame up to 50 meters high could be seen from Nevsky Prospekt. At about 6 p.m., the cross collapsed, followed by the collapse of the central dome of the Orthodox church. “Oh, fathers, an unkind sign!” - now and then it was heard in the crowd. Soon the fire spread to the other four domes and the upper tiers of the building itself.

With great efforts, the flames were localized (but not extinguished) only about half past eight in the evening. As a result, the total burning area was about 1800 square meters. Almost 70% of all firefighting forces of the metropolis, including the only specialized helicopter, were deployed to Troitskaya Square. Work on site continued throughout the night. Fortunately, there are no victims.

The Temple of the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment, designed by the famous Russian architect Vasily Stasov in 1835, a monument of the late classicism era, one of the four architectural and high-rise dominants of St. Petersburg, has lost two domes and a significant part of the roof. According to Vice-Governor Viktor Lobko, most of the valuables rescued from the cathedral - icons, church utensils - have been sent to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra for the time being, and several of the most valuable icons - to the Hermitage. Due to the strength of the structure, the interior of the temple was practically not damaged. In the very near future, a temporary roof will be erected over the building.

The causes of the tragedy are being investigated, and a criminal case has been opened. According to one of the versions, everything could happen because of an unextinguished cigarette butt. The fact is that the cathedral, which could accommodate up to three thousand people and was returned to believers 16 years ago, has been under restoration since 2004 (45 million rubles from the city and federal treasuries have already been spent on it). The building stood in wooden scaffolding. Perhaps one of the workers dropped an unextinguished cigarette.

Eyewitnesses also speak of powerful pops like explosions heard from time to time.

“We will deal with the disgrace that occurs at our construction sites in terms of non-compliance with fire safety rules,” said Governor Valentina Matvienko, who arrived at Troitskaya Square. According to her, the direct culprit of the fire will pay for the restoration of the memorial temple and compensate for all losses.

Experts are not yet ready to name at least an approximate amount of damage. It will be determined by the expert commission, which started work on Saturday. According to Vera Dementieva, head of the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Administration of St. Petersburg, according to the most rough estimates, the damage is more than 160 million rubles. And the restoration of the cathedral will take at least one and a half to two years.