On March 16, a fire broke out in a 19-story building at 10A Hamid Olimjon Square in Tashkent. The fire started on the 9th floor, causing serious damage to the balcony and property inside the apartment, and also spread to the balcony of the 10th floor, damaging the air conditioner and windows, with external aluminum panels bending. Following the incident, residents of the building sent an appeal to the Tashkent city administration and personally to the mayor, demanding a stop to the facade glazing works. Residents have been opposing these works since the beginning, even filing a lawsuit, but the court rejected the request for a temporary suspension.

According to official information, the causes of the fire have not yet been determined, with representatives of the emergency management department stating that the cause will be identified through an expert examination. However, it is speculated that the fire may have been caused by welding work on the building's facade, where metal profiles are being installed for attaching decorative aluminum panels and sliding black glass frames. Each of the four 19-story buildings on the square already has such glazing, and after completion, similar changes are expected on the facades of four more high-rise buildings on the opposite side of Abdulla Qodiriy Street.

Residents are expressing serious concerns about safety issues. In a video appeal, one woman said, "We are all trembling… We do not feel safe. For God's sake, stop this renovation." Another woman, whose apartment on the 10th floor was damaged by the fire, questioned what would have happened if the incident had occurred during extreme heat or if the building's exterior had been fully glazed. In the building, elevators and electricity supply in apartments on the fire-affected side were shut off until the next day, a precaution taken due to water entering the electrical panel.

Problems also arose during the firefighting process. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, firefighters arrived in approximately 8 minutes, but residents said these minutes felt very long, and extinguishing the fire took over 20 minutes. The fire was extinguished from inside, as it was impossible for vehicles to approach the side of the building where the fire started. Residents also complained about the constant occupancy of the area in front of the entrance by cars, which prevented fire trucks from getting close to the building. This issue is common in the courtyards of many residential buildings, but no government body is currently paying attention to it.

At the scene, the director of the management company, upon learning of the fire, rushed to the 9th floor, where he helped evacuate a woman, then went up to the 10th floor and began spraying water on that apartment and the balconies of lower floors using a hose, which may have prevented the fire from spreading to upper floors. Two fire trucks and two ambulances were at the scene, with doctors reporting that no appeals from victims had been received, and they arrived independently based on the fire report.

Source: www.gazeta.uz