Possible Consequences of Fires

The average number of fires in Russia per year is about 430,000–440,000. Once out of control, fire destroys material assets, can harm health, or lead to human death. The latter is the most terrifying negative consequence of a fire, claiming about 10,000 lives annually. Every day in our country, Emergency Ministry (EMERCOM) employees fight fires occurring in residential and public buildings, at production facilities, and in warehouses. In most cases, fires are caused by negligence or lack of oversight by citizens and legal entities.

The main goal of this article is to demonstrate the dangers of fires and the necessity of preventive measures. For example, timely repair of electrical wiring, installation of fire extinguishers and automatic systems, and careful handling of fire. Specialists from the BONTEL Group talk about the consequences and give real examples of fires that occurred in Russia over the past 5–8 years.

 

Main Consequences of Fires

The main consequences of fires are divided into two types:

• Economic. Fire destroys material assets, deprives people of apartments, houses, and accumulated property. In warehouse fires, economic damage exceeds tens of millions of rubles. A striking example is the fire at the Wildberries facility on January 13, 2024. According to insurers, the damage amounted to 10–11 billion rubles.
• Social. Fires harm health, cause burns, and can poison people with carbon monoxide and combustion products. The quality of life decreases for citizens who become victims of fires and lose property, money, or suffer moral or physical damage. Human death is the most dangerous social consequence.

If not contained in a specific zone, fire spreads rapidly. Temperatures can rise quickly to 800–1000 degrees Celsius. This allows the fire to destroy silicate brick and other strong building materials and guarantees the destruction of any wooden structures regardless of their treatment.

The main consequences of a building fire depend on its stage:

1. Initial — 5–10 minutes. Materials and valuables directly engulfed in flames are destroyed or damaged. At this stage, the fire can be quickly extinguished independently; it is detected by any fire suppression system or alarm. Economic and social consequences are relatively minor.

2. Growing and developed. A fire not extinguished or localized in the early stage begins to spread. Economic consequences worsen, and the fires source increases. For example, at this stage, an apartment in a residential building may be completely burned out. Firefighters are required to extinguish it. Their main task is to prevent the fire from spreading further and to save lives. The most dangerous consequence at this stage is the collapse of floors or the building.

3. Dying down. The fire causes maximum economic damage and destroys all burnable materials. The task of EMERCOM staff is to prevent reignition.

By the second stage, the consequences can already reach a critical level. Your main goal should be to evacuate and save your life. Fighting the flames independently with extinguishers or water is ineffective and dangerous.

 

 

Dangerous Consequences of Fires

The most dangerous fire consequences are social. Injury and death can be caused by:

• High temperatures and open flames. Air becomes hot, reaching up to 600°C at head level. Inhaling it damages the respiratory tract and lungs. Burns covering more than 15% of the body are life-threatening.
• Heavy smoke. Smoke fills rooms and reduces visibility, making evacuation difficult and worsening consequences.
• Combustion products. Over 70% of fire deaths occur due to carbon monoxide produced during fires. It reduces oxygen concentration in the air (normally 21%), causing unconsciousness and death.

Carbon monoxide is one of the most dangerous fire consequences, making evacuation difficult. The table below shows symptoms of poisoning depending on oxygen levels:

 

Oxygen % in Air	Effect on Humans
17%	Coordination impaired, dizziness occurs
12%	Headache, fatigue, and nausea appear
9%	Loss of consciousness
6%	Breathing stops, followed by death

Примеры последствий пожаров в общественных зданиях:

• December 9, 2022, Khimki. A fire occurred in the “MEGA Khimki” shopping center at the OBI store. Paint and varnish cans caught fire and exploded. Fire area: 18,000 m². Roof partially collapsed. Consequences: 1 death, damage of ~20 billion rubles.
• August 2, 2022, Istra. Fire at the Ozon warehouse lasted over 10 hours. Area exceeded 50,000 m². Roof collapsed. Consequences: 13 injured (2 hospitalized, 1 dead), 10.8 billion rubles in damage.
• May 18, 2024, Magnitogorsk. Fire at “Cascade” shopping center, third floor. Despite a small fire area (150 m²), one woman died. A flooring store was completely destroyed.

Fires in residential buildings are less often reported by the media but claim more lives. According to EMERCOM, in 2023 there were 92,000 such fires, with around 7,500 deaths.

Residential Fire Examples:

• May 6, 2024, Bratsk District (Irkutsk Region). Fire in a gardening partnership spread to 8 areas. Strong winds helped spread it across wooden structures. Consequences: 2 dead, 188 structures burned.
• May 23, 2024, Padikovo village (Moscow Region). Fire in a country house. Consequences: 6 died from carbon monoxide poisoning, 2 injured.
• May 6, 2024, Samara. Apartment fire on 15 m². 20 people evacuated. Consequences: 1 hospitalized due to carbon monoxide, 1 dead.
• December 3, 2023, Moscow. Apartment on the 10th floor caught fire. 3 people evacuated with carbon monoxide poisoning. Despite medical help, 2 children (aged 4 and 8) died.
• June 5, 2024, Karagaysky settlement (Chelyabinsk Region). Private house fire. Consequences: 7 hospitalized with burns and poisoning, 1 dead.

Residential fires often lead to hospitalization and death. People are unprepared to fight fires, lack evacuation knowledge, and homes often lack alarm and suppression systems. These systems are mandatory in public buildings and help evacuate large groups quickly.

Installing smoke detectors can save lives. For example, on June 10, 2024, a fire broke out on the veranda of a private house in Altai Krai at night. The detector made a loud sound and woke the large family. They evacuated safely. Only the veranda burned, and the house was damaged—only economic losses occurred.

 

 

Firefighting Consequences

When extinguishing a fire, EMERCOM personnel use large amounts of water. In apartment buildings, this causes:

• Flooding of apartments below the fire.
• Damage to neighbors exceeding the losses of the fire’s originator.

Fighting fires without knowledge of basic rules can worsen the situation. Possible consequences:

• Carbon monoxide poisoning. Trying to extinguish a second-stage fire is pointless. Without timely evacuation, one may pass out and die from inhalation.
• Electric shock. Devices under voltage must only be extinguished with Class E extinguishers: powder (OP), carbon dioxide (OU), and air-emulsion (OVE). Never use water.
• Increased fire area. In most cases, call 101 immediately. Only EMERCOM teams can handle large fires. Attempting it alone lets the fire spread longer.

The most dangerous consequence of firefighting is the death of EMERCOM staff. Rescuing people at great personal risk, they may die from collapsing structures or smoke inhalation.

Examples:

• April 12, 2021, St. Petersburg. Fire at Nevskaya Manufaktura factory. Firefighters entered to search for people. Flame flashover occurred. Two hospitalized with severe burns. Rescuer Ilya Beletsky (31) died. All awarded the “Order of Courage,” Ilya posthumously.
• February 3, 2021, Krasnoyarsk. Fire at an auto parts warehouse. A 3-person team searched for a worker. All found dead without breathing masks, oxygen tanks empty. Alexey Puzyrev, Anatoly Zhalnerchik, and Maxim Ryabtsev were posthumously awarded the “Order of Courage.” One warehouse worker also died.
• September 22, 2016, Moscow. Fire at an artificial flower warehouse. EMERCOM team evacuated people and climbed the roof to create a water curtain. At 20:45, the roof collapsed, trapping and killing the team. Alexander Yurchikov, Alexey Akimov, Roman Georgiev, Alexander Korentsov, Pavel Andryushkin, Nikolay Golubev, Sergey Sinelobov, and Pavel Makarochkin were posthumously awarded the “Order of Courage.”

 

Economic Consequences of Firefighting:

• January 30, 2015, Moscow. Fire at an institute of scientific information. Millions of books were water-damaged and stored for years in special freezers to preserve pages. Installing a gas-based suppression system could have prevented this.

• January 22, 2023, Khabarovsk. Auto repair shop fire. Firefighters fought the blaze. Water flooded the street and froze, blocking traffic on three streets.

 

Timely detection and suppression can prevent fire and firefighting consequences. We recommend installing automatic fire suppression units and alarms (including smoke detectors). These allow early fire detection and control, minimizing damage.