The fire in the Ostankino Tower (August 2000)

The more technology in our life, the higher the risk of accidents, if not comply with the rules for handling it. One of them occurred in the Russian capital 15 years ago. About this a lot then said. There was not only great material damage, but also people were killed.

The fire flared up

At 460-meter height, a fire broke out in the Ostankino Tower. With him, continuously fought for 2 days. This is nothing but the largest man-made disaster in Russia .

In 2000, this misfortune occurred. It was August, the 27th, Sunday. Time is about three o'clock in the afternoon. And suddenly a smoke poured from the windows, then a flame appeared.

Immediately the broadcasting of the majority of Russian channels to Moscow and the region was stopped. So fans of NTV and ORT, "Culture", TV-6 and others could not watch their favorite programs. The radio station Ekho Moskvy was also silent.

After 600 seconds

The clock showed eight minutes past four, when the duty shift heard suddenly how the alarm sounded, announcing the flame. And after a couple of minutes, a message about a fire in the Ostankino Tower came to dispatch service 01.

And after 10 minutes the Ostankino Tower, whose address is Korolev, 15, was surrounded by a little more than 40 cars. There were firemen, rescuers and ambulance doctors.

Specialists determined that the flame covered 10 square meters of area.

First victims

The rumor that the Ostankino tower was on fire was scattered around the capital very quickly. All who were inside it - in the premises of studios, hardware, visitors to the restaurant "The Seventh Heaven" began to be urgently evacuated. But how? The elevators are off. It was necessary to all go down the stairs. And this can not be done so quickly. After all, the height of the Ostankino Tower in meters is 540.

As the officials of the city's fire service told journalists later, there could be many victims in that situation and in such a complicated fire. Just resting in the famous restaurant "The Seventh Heaven", as well as tourists walking around the viewing platform, remained intact and unharmed only because they were quickly, not a minute's time, began to take to the street. And among the firefighters, by the way, there would also be a lot of injuries, they do not show great professionalism. After all, they had to work in difficult conditions. Corridors are extremely narrow. And a great temperature. In addition, all the constructions made of metal, various objects, have become very hot. Experienced specialists said that such a non-standard flame had not been found anywhere else, not in one country.

At 16.30 clock, as reported by RIA Novosti, referring to workers from the fire-fighting service of the capital, there were no casualties. But the fire on the Ostankino Tower was just beginning. The dead, alas, and other victims will appear later.

The hearth of trouble was really very high. It's so easy not to get there. Then the commander of the team of firefighters, who arrived at the scene of the accident, Colonel Vladimir Arsyukov, decided to go upstairs and see what was happening there (on a high-speed elevator). However, the lift fell down. Flying about 300 m. It killed not only this fireman, but also the girl - lifter Losev Sveta. She volunteered to escort the lift to the site of the fire. Shepitsyn Alexander also died with them. He worked as a repairman.

And later, several people were taken to the hospital. They had burns and gas poisoning.

The ambulances that came here, learning that the Ostankino Tower is on fire, quickly took them away, having first provided the necessary first aid on the spot. Also arrived and detachments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The fire in the Ostankino Tower is a serious business!

Wild Heat

The source of the accident, as was believed at that time alone, was the closure of the wiring. This is where the amplifiers of the transmitting devices are located (for paging). Others said that this happened because of the explosion of the antenna. Whatever it was, but after the fire of the cable, the transmitters flashed. So the fire began in the Ostankino Tower (2000)? Rescuers quickly began to work. The flame was extinguished with the help of carbon dioxide fire extinguishers.

The fire broke up so that the heat rose. Up to 1000 degrees. Because of her, 120 cables (out of the available 149) burst. But they provided the so-called prestressing of the entire concrete structure of this unique and very large tower. In that situation, she could easily collapse.

Yes, the Ostankino Tower was almost entirely on fire. But I stood firm. Contrary to poor forecasts.

Specialists who arrived at the scene where the Ostankino Tower stands (address: 15, Korolev St.) noted the very violent burning of all feeders. This is an electrical circuit and auxiliary devices that transmit radio signal energy from the antenna to the radio receivers. They also have such easily lighted shells made of polyethylene that the drops of molten synthetics just fell down. And everywhere they created secondary foci of ignition.

Fiery rain

No wonder that at this incredibly high heat, the feeders themselves were destroyed. Their pieces also flew down.

The efforts of firefighters to erect some obstacles in their path (for example, with the same asbestos canvases) did not yield anything. Because the different designs of the tower with their protruding corners made gaps in these canvases. And through them, both parts of the cables and the melted pieces passed easily. This is a terrible sight. Completely burnt out three floors.

But people acted quickly. It was only half an hour before they received a distress signal, and they had already created a group that had started extinguishing the flames and to carry out other emergency response measures.

Chronicle of the struggle

By five o'clock a lot of cables - about 25 meters - were burnt out altogether. A couple of hours passed and three elevators fell. From a height of 460 meters! Just in one went those people about whom we wrote above.

By nine o'clock the outer cables burst, torn. And all from this wild temperature. The night was approaching, and the fire descended even lower. At the 200-meter level.

There was complete darkness. The fire in the Ostankino Tower in 2000 did not abate. With him continued to struggle stubbornly.

By two o'clock, late at night, on August 28, almost all power cables were gone. And there were thousands of them inside the Ostankino Tower! It took another thirty minutes, and the cunning fire crawled to an incredibly low level - up to 120 meters.

In the morning, at half-past four, it was possible by some miracle to stop this rapid slide of the flame. At 12.30 the glad tidings spread: the fire is localized! But not even half an hour passed, as at the mark in 247 m people again saw clouds of smoke.

Upstairs

It was impossible to penetrate that part of the tower, which was called an antenna. She had such peculiarities of design. And also very dense smoke and an incredibly high temperature.

What to do, given that the height of the Ostankino Tower in meters is very decent?

The brave rescuers had no choice but to climb a very narrow and vertical ladder from a height of 381 meters to 420 meters. And this is without any respiratory protection. Similarly, firemen carried portable fire extinguishers and installations, but already stationary (with carbon dioxide). Otherwise, it was impossible to strangle the flame.

And only towards the end of the second day (after the announcement that the Ostankino Tower is on fire), it was reported that this dangerous conflagration had finally been eliminated.

The terrorist attack was not

The Moscow prosecutor's office, of course, opened a criminal case. After all, there was a spoilage of property (albeit by negligence), or its intentional destruction.

But this is not a terrorist act, as the FSB workers declared.

Later it turned out that the fire in the Ostankino Tower was caused by an elementary violation of the rules that must be observed to prevent all kinds of fires. It was this that led to a short circuit. Then the cables caught fire. And the fire quickly spread throughout the structure.

Moreover, the investigators found that during the Ostankino Tower in Moscow was designed (in 1962), some deviations from the norms were allowed. In particular, in order to deliver elevators. And as a result of the conflagration (2000), all 29 cables were strung out of all 150. All the elevators, power supply, and ventilation were damaged. Violated the supply of water, heat, alarm, communication.

All week there were no broadcasts on the main channels. Broadcast only TNT. At its frequencies, the NTV newscasts were temporarily shown.

But here came the September 2000 year. And on the fourth day all the previously silent studios have earned.

Back to life

Several options were offered for restoration. We stopped at one, however, it was the longest - at the complete reconstruction of the tower. And already in 2002 we finished everything that had to be done. This multi-meter beauty was strengthened reliably. Installed newcomers, already from incombustible materials. Plus - jumpers (fireproof). The whole tower was technically modernized.

New high-speed elevators (from Germany) ran perfectly. High temperature? But she does not care. And it is small with all this the probability that the lifts will fall. Even with a significant fire.

It's my fault ... the kettle

However, that's not all. A new fire broke out in the Ostankino Tower. The 2013 year turned out to be unfortunate for her. Smoke appeared from one of the offices on the 8th floor. And then the fire. True, this time the area of the fire was only two square meters.

The smoke came from the electric kettle. Most likely, it boiled water, it overheated and caught fire. Nevertheless, they called ten fire engines. And tourists who looked at the city from the observation platform, immediately evacuated.

Half an hour passed, and there was no danger.

After the fire in 2000, the ORT and RTR studios created a common TV channel. It showed the broadcasts of both editions, which viewers lost because of the accident. Mostly, there were popular TV series and news reports.

Other studios have also merged. For example, NTV and "Culture".

Interesting object

For those 30 years that there is the Ostankino Tower, more than 10 million people visited its viewing platform and in the "Seventh Heaven" - a very fashionable restaurant.

And since December 2010, here every day there are guided tours. Each lasts one hour. However, tourists already take two sites at once. Closed (height 337 m) and open - 340 meters. The second functions only on warm days. From May to October. Each group receives 70 people for examination.

And on the stairs, which leads to the famous TV tower, races were held. The end point is at an altitude of 337 meters.

Festivals are held here. In 2003, for example, the first show of base jumping took place. And immediately set a world record. That is, from the tower at the same time jumped 26 people. And in the following year, 2004, the previous record was beaten. For already 30 daredevils simultaneously jumped down from this high tower.

The main TV tower of the country continues to work and delight viewers today.