Fire at market injures three

A municipal official says safety precautions are insufficient after three people were injured at the Christmas market on Prague's náměstí Míru Nov. 30 when a fire burned down four vending stands.

Fire broke out as one stall-keeper changed a gas cylinder used for cooking fuel at a pastry stand. Three people were treated by paramedics onsite and then taken to the burn center at Vinohrady Hospital.

"The accident is under investigation, so it is too early to make conclusions," said Iva Knolová, a police spokeswoman.

Prague 2 outsourced the administration of the náměstí Míru market to businessman Martin Valovič.

"Safety precautions are not concretely stated in contracts," said Karel Zábrdský, an official with the Prague 2 Department for Crisis Situations and Safety. "There is nothing about how the operator is supposed to ensure the safety of the markets."

Valovič says safety is ultimately the responsibility of stall operators.

"I do not want to comment. It is not my business," he said. "It's the the pastry stall operator's responsibility. I only rent the stalls from Prague 2."

The four stands burned to the ground in eight minutes. Two gas canisters inside the stalls survived the fire unscathed. Prague's Christmas markets officially opened Nov. 28.

"The boy who worked at the opposite stall probably had a gas leak or a poorly tightened safety valve," one witness told Czech television. "His stall caught on fire, but nothing happened to him. He immediately jumped out; something was burning on him, but he managed to put it out the minute he hit the ground."

New stands were in place by 11 a.m. Dec. 1.

Two witnesses to the fire declined comment Dec. 1, saying they had given statements to police.

In November 2008, a fire at a Prague Vietnamese market burned for 19 hours. In December 2003, winds toppled the Christmas tree at the Old Town Square market, injuring four.  

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com