The key facts

  • A fire broke out in a building on Bolshaya Bronnaya between the Afina and Narnia restaurants; New Year's decorations burned down and apartment balconies were charred.
  • Expert Aleksey Filileev suggested that the fire spread quickly along an arch made of New Year's decorations stretched between the restaurants.
  • The most dangerous decorations are those made of dried flowers, straw, paper, foam plastic, and artificial pine needles made of polyethylene and PVC.

Fire on Bolshaya Bronnaya and the expert's theory

On Thursday, a fire broke out in a building on Bolshaya Bronnaya in Moscow between two restaurants owned by Pinsky — Afina and Narnia: New Year's decorations burned down, and the balconies of apartments were charred. About the possible cause of the rapid spread of the fire, Aleksey Filileev, general director of the Center for Construction Expertise PGS, forensic expert and civil engineer, told Gazeta.Ru. In his view, the spread of the flames could have been triggered by a decoration — an arch stretched between the restaurants.

How flammable decor affects a fire

The expert explained that for a fire-technical examination, not only the material of the decorations matters, but also the way they are placed: if a faulty garland catches fire where there are no flammable materials nearby, the fire may remain local. A continuous layer of festive decor, on the contrary, creates an additional path for the fire to spread through the building — along a vertical flammable surface, flames move especially quickly, heating and igniting the material above them. According to Filileev, a fir arch or a garland stretched from a restaurant entrance to the balconies of apartments can turn a small fire into a large-scale blaze.

Which decorations are the most dangerous

The greatest danger, in the expert's assessment, comes from decorations made of flammable materials: dried flowers, straw, natural fir branches, paper, foam plastic figures, and artificial pine needles made of polyethylene and PVC. Dry materials ignite easily, while foam plastic and some polymers melt when burning, give off thick smoke and form burning drips that ignite the decor below. Filileev also noted that interfloor belts and balcony slabs help limit the spread of fire between floors, but continuous flammable decor can in fact nullify this protection.

What is considered safer

The expert named decorations made of non-combustible materials — metal, glass and ceramics — as a safer option. According to his recommendation, decor should be placed with gaps, away from windows and balconies, and electrical connections should not be hidden inside flammable compositions. Earlier, as Gazeta.Ru notes, an expert already explained how to choose a safe New Year's garland.