Fire Breaks Out at Prague’s National Museum

Early this morning, the roof of the Czech landmark was engulfed in flames; firefighters now have the situation under control

Dave Park

Written by Dave Park Published on 12.02.2016 10:19:26 (updated on 12.02.2016) Reading time: 1 minute

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Prague’s historic National Museum at the top of Wenceslas Square caught fire in the early hours of the morning of February 12. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

Around 150 firefighters from a dozen professional and volunteer units were dispatched to the building, and managed to get control of the situation in about two hours.

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The Prague building is currently covered with scaffolding, and had been undergoing extensive reconstruction for a 2018 re-opening. The only injury reported during the fire was a security guard who suffered smoke inhalation.

Valuable art pieces had already been moved from the building during the renovation period.

Flames engulfed about 200 meters of the roof of the building. “It’s kind of a blessing in disguise,” museum director Michal Lukeš told iDnes.cz, referring to the fact that the incident occurred when few people or items were in the museum.

iDnes.cz has a live feed of the situation outside the building.

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This morning, photos and video of the incident flooded the pages of local news and social media.

Hoří Národní muzeum!!! Kurvaaa, to zapiju na Unique Festivalu :-/ Posted by Robert Vaca on Thursday, February 11, 2016

Traffic in front of the building on Wilsonova street – which was blocked just a few days ago during a strike by local taxi drivers – was affected again by the fire at the National Museum, with just a single lane open as of 6:00. 

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