Notre-Dame fire: Hungary sympathises with France – UPDATE
Hungary feels sympathy for France over the fire that engulfed Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, has said in a statement.
“We sympathise with our French friends when we watch the painful scenes from Paris. Notre Dame is an important Christian and cultural symbol to all of us; it shows us who we are. We wish the firefighters strength and perseverance”, the Minister said in his statement.
The fire in the gothic cathedral, one of the French capital’s emblematic buildings, began in the early hours of Monday evening, and the flames ravaged the upper part of the world-famous church. It’s spire, which was under renovation, collapsed and the cathedral’s whole roof structure was destroyed.
At a press conference on a different subject, Szijjártó said later on Tuesday that Hungary was always ready to aid Christians in need, and so it was “naturally” ready to provide aid to the reconstruction, should that be needed. Besides financial aid,
Hungary offers experts to coordinate parts of the reconstruction project, he said.
City of Szeged offers EUR 10,000 for Notre Dame reconstruction
The municipality Szeged has offered 10,000 euros to aid the reconstruction of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris which was heavily damaged by fire on Tuesday.
The local authority of the city in southern Hungary said in a statement today that Paris had come to Szeged’s aid after one of its largest floods 140 years ago, and now Szeged is repaying the French capital in the spirit of European solidarity.
Szeged is also launching a donation drive to raise funds for reconstructing the damaged parts of the cathedral, it added.
Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities is collecting donations
The Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (Mazsihisz) said in a statement that it is also collecting donations to aid the reconstruction. Mazsihisz head Andras Heisler, the vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, said in a statement that he had proposed to the WJC’s president, Ronald S. Lauder, calling on Jews worldwide to contribute to the cause.
Heisler expressed his sympathies to the Catholic community and the French nation.
“There is no person of faith in the world whose heart is not wrenched by such destruction,” the statement said.
Székesfehérvár offers EUR 10,000
The municipality of Székesfehérvár has also offered 10,000 euros towards the cost of reconstructing the damaged parts of the building, the local mayor, András Cser-Palkovics, said today. He added that he urged all town mayors to make similar donations if they had the means to do so.
Photo: MTI/EPA/Julien De Rosa
Hungarian restaurant on fire in the United States!
On the 6th of March, for yet unknown reasons, a Hungarian restaurant in the city of Albany, (Oregon State, USA) burst into flames. There are no casualties reported, but the building has become not usable for service.
However, the locals banded together to help the restaurant’s owner Karen Novak, in order to rebuild the town’s favourite Hungarian restaurant, writes nbc16.com and hvg.hu. Karen Novak has been operating the restaurant for 35 years.
The 50-thousand-citizen town in Oregon shows exemplary human cooperation; everybody helps Novak as they can.
Some people with warm words, some with donations and some with giving temporary jobs for the restaurant’s employees. On Sunday, a charity event was also held at local elderly home.
Even though the cause of the fire is yet unknown, it is for sure that the flames did not come from the kitchen.
A café neighbouring Novak’s Hungarian Restaurant has even offered its 1 year tip jar of 1200$ to give to Karen.
[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/fire-at-budapest-dorm-serious-damages-overwhelming-support/” type=”big” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Fire at Budapest dorm: serious damages but overwhelming support[/button]
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Featured image: facebook.com/Novakshungarianrestaurant/photos
Fire at Budapest dorm: serious damages, overwhelming support
The dormitory of the Danubian Reformed Church District that houses over 130 theology students caught on fire on 23 January. The fire started late in the evening. Thirty fire trucks arrived on the scene, and over 100 firefighters took part in the extinguishing process.
It took 100 firefighters, three water cannons, and 12 water jets to put out the fire, melte.hu reports.
The building that caught on fire houses not only the dormitory but also the bishop’s office, the Ráday Library, the Török Pál Library, the Bible Museum and the Ráday Archives of the Reformed Church of Hungary. The centre of the fire was the dormitory on the second and third floors. This dorm was built in the 1980s, and it suffered serious damages. This is the dorm of the Faculty of Theology, Károly Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. The students acted very responsibly during the crisis. Everyone immediately alerted the others, leaving all of their belongings behind.
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Students are safe
Approximately 130 students lived in the dorm. Due to the ongoing exam period, only 80 students were in the building at the time of the fire, and luckily, all of them got out safely. The second and third floors, as well as the nearby kitchen and its surroundings, burnt down completely. The roof of the building is also ruined.
The library and the Ráday Archives suffered extreme damages as well. However, it was not the fire but the water (used to extinguish the fire) that caused the most damage to the Archives. Luckily, the water could not reach the shelves, as it was “only” 10-15cm above the ground, and only those documents were ruined that were stored temporarily on the floor.
https://www.facebook.com/bmokf.hivatalos/videos/557068421428447/
One casualty
When the fire alarm went off, 90 people left the building immediately. No students were harmed. Unfortunately, the fire resulted in the death of one person, who stayed in the dorm. He was a father of four. He was not a student of the Károly Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. He was doing his PhD at another university in Budapest, and he stayed in the dorm one day a week in one of the dorm’s guest rooms, Blikk reports. The death shocked everyone.
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Damages
The building is in such bad shape that it is impossible for the students and teachers to move back to the dorm any time soon. There are 158 students who are in need of housing. The university aims to find a place where they can house all of them under one roof so that they are not scattered all over the city. For 130 students, the Church received over 380 offers; all of these would host the students permanently, until they can move back to the dorm, Parókia.hu reports.
The Church received an enormous amount of help from locals. Theologians are extremely grateful for any help, financial or emotional. Members of the Church said that the love, support and helpfulness that surrounds them is very rare in today’s world, parokia.hu reports.
The exam period is suspended for the time being. A few students were picked up by their parents, but many of them escaped the building with nothing else but a pair of slippers. The lucky ones found most of their belonging unharmed, but many students lost all of their personal belongings in the fire.
Donations
Here, you can make a donation: account number of Károli Gáspár University at OTP Bank: 11705008-20492223
From abroad:
Swift code: OTPVHUHB
IBAN:
HU22117050082049222300000000
Transfer description: tűzeset or fire
Featured image: BM Országos Katasztrófavédelmi Főigazgatóság
PM Orbán expresses regret over Reformed Church dorm fire in Budapest
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his regrets over Wednesday night’s fire in which the upper stories of the Ráday Dormitory in central Budapest burnt down and a person died, in a letter to Bishop István Szabó.
In his letter, Orbán offered help to the Reformed Church to restore the damaged building.
The dorm, home to 130 students, was only partially occupied at the time of the fire, because many of the students are away preparing for their upcoming examinations, the church said in a statement.
All others have been temporarily REHOUSED by the district municipality and the Lutheran Church, the statement added.
Feaured image: MTI
Rescued Hungarian dog the newest star in the United States – Video
Marci, the Hungarian Labrador, is reportedly the newest superstar in America. Marci was stuck in the middle of the frozen Csunya Lake which is located in Pécel (Pest County) not far from Gödöllő and Budapest. The Hungarian firefighters rescued the poor dog, and their video about the mission went viral in the States.
Élő Bolygónk reported that the Hungarian Disaster Management asked for the help of the Hungarian firefighters when they found Marci.
The frozen lake’s ice was incredibly thin, so it was inevitable that the dog might fall into the freezing water.
After the firefighters examined the lake, they immediately urged scuba-divers to help the rescue team, who saved the dog with special rescue equipment. The dog was exhausted and cold, and he barely had the energy to bark. After the dog was put on the special equipment, the divers took him to the shore where he was given back to its owner. A vet also took part in the action and examined Marci right after the scuba-divers rescued him.
Luckily, the only matter with Marci was that he got frightened.
Here is the video about the rescue of Marci
The biggest sensation in the rescue action is that the American Weather Channel also reported the Hungarian firefighters’ incredible work.
[button link=”https://weather.com/news/trending/video/heartwarming-dog-rescue-in-hungary?fbclid=IwAR2Hy_lm_RBXg37lOd8kngostWKFd-RU7oB2VXjJRRBffde7Py_Z9zM69Zw” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Weather Channel: Heartwarming Dog Rescue in Hungary[/button]
The owners of Marci told the Hungarian Disaster Management that the Labrador was fine and playing happily again all day long. They also expressed their gratitude towards the rescue team.
Featured image: Youtube
Roof of building housing opposition lawmakers’ offices in flames
The roof of a four-storey building in Budapest’s 6th district caught fire on Saturday afternoon, the Budapest Disaster Management Directorate said. The building houses the offices of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK).
The 400sqm roof structure of the building on the Teréz Ring Road was in flames and around 40 firefighters with ten vehicles have extinguished the fire.
There are no reports of injuries, Péter Kolozsi, deputy spokesman of the Budapest Disaster Management Directorate told MTI. The cause of the fire will be investigated, he added.
Earlier in the day an extractor fan in a restaurant kitchen located on the ground floor caught fire but this was extinguished by firefighters. It is not yet known whether the two fires are linked, Kolozsi said.
Sándor Rónai, DK’s spokesman, told MTI that the building houses the offices of DK parliamentary representatives and the party’s foundation, and the fire affected the floor where these offices are located. He said DK had no information about the cause or the circumstances of the fire.
“There were no staff members in the offices at the time of the fire and we are not aware of any personal injuries,” the spokesman said.
He said later that all of DK’s offices had been destroyed by the fire which affected the building’s 5th floor. It has caused serious material damage but no personal injuries, Rónai added.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE: HUNGARIAN RESIDENTS SPEAK ABOUT THE CRISIS
California wildfire: Hungarian residents speak about the crisis
It is a shocking experience to see the flames and the horrific devastation caused by the wildfire in California, even for those who are living farther from its centre.
Depressing, frightening and scary scenes as the extreme amount of smoke rises – described the crisis Hungarians living in the state for the news program of the Hungarian RTL Club Channel, reports Szeretlek Magyarország. This is the greatest fire in the history of the American state, which has been burning for six days now. 56 people died already and there are still many out there who were not found yet. According to CNN, at least 130 people are still being tracked by local authorities, while the number of deaths could still increase as the days go by. The majority of people missing are residents of Paradise, a town of 27000.
“The sun looked like a giant glowing ball (…) Orange and greyish layers covered the whole city. It was really scary.”
– said Gyöngyi Józsa, living about 30 km-s away from the centre, a resident in Los Angeles. Nikolett Barabás, an actress living in the city of angels as well, stated one can only see flames everywhere around the mountains which is quite terrifying. Many of her acquaintances have been evacuated from that area.
“Some of them just called me that the fire has not reached their home yet, although it burnt down the house of one of their neighbours, so they can consider themselves lucky.”
– she added. Mónika Mondovits from Santa Monica claims people might live outside the centre of the wildfire, but seeing the devastation around them makes them weary as well. Ágnes Bori, a student in San Francisco, says the smoke is so heavy in the city that everyone wears masks to avoid it:
“Many homeless people are living here. Locals are trying to form groups in order to help them with free masks, but there are so many people in need that it is impossible to take care of everyone.”
Although the firefighters stopped spreading the blaze, it is going to take much more time to put out the fire everywhere. At its fastest, the wildfire spread at more than a football field (!) per second and it burnt down 113000 acres of land by Monday. The forest fire spread very quickly due to the heavy winds carrying flaming debris, the lack of rain and the intense drought in California. The frequency of these fires might be on the rise due to climate change as well.
There was a wildfire in Greece not so long ago where the Hungarian government contributed to the reconstructions. Learn more about the Greek wildfire here.
Hungarian tourists report about Greek Fire
The great Greek fire is one of the biggest tragedies the country had to face in the past years: until now, experts know about more than 70 victims and 150 injured. As Szeretlekmagyarország.hu writes, there were several Hungarians close to the tragedy.
700 people were evacuated from the beaches and rocky areas in Mati, near Athen, as the fire came, cars melted and villages disappeared from the map.
Several Hungarian tourists could witness as the national grief swept over the country.
According to Levente Györgypál, spending his holiday in Athen with his mother, the happy and friendly Greeks are down in the dumps. Also, some ambulance men and fire-fighters are still out there where the tragedy happened.
Another Hungarian tourist was very lucky to stay offset in a motorway resting area as they escaped the great fires during the night. It was only when they finally returned to their reserved accommodation that they received news regarding the burnt shores and the village. In June, Budapest had also had its share of fire, but luckily, nothing that could be compared to what happened in Greece.
According to fire investigator expert Csilla Csepregi, in these cases, a car could be the best shelter with the windows closed and also using wet blankets can be helpful. Fortunately, as the local Hungarian consulate reports, there are no reports about Hungarian victims or injuries. It is not the first time that environmental change caused incidents.
Authorities have asked everyone to avoid Rafina, Mati, Nea Voucasz and Nea Makri villages.
Photo: MTI/EPA/Vaszilisz Pszomasz
Huge fire breaks out in Budapest store-house
A 3000 square meter store-house burst into flames in Budapest’s 13th district at Frangepan Street, causing a huge fire, origo.hu reports. Neighbouring office buildings were also in danger. The fire has been extinguished by early afternoon, and no one was injured.
More than 50 professional firefighters set out to put out the fire, and additional, volunteer firemen from the Zugló district joined their efforts. Those in the nearby office buildings were endangered; one of them, a three-storey building was protected by firemen. Everyone was sent out to the streets. Finally, they managed to enclose the area and thus avoid the threat of smoke inhalation.
The smoke plume was so tall that it could be seen from Buda, and smoke detectors in neighboring buildings went off.
Its strong smell led to the suspicion that it may be harmful to health, but no lethal amount of gas was detected.
It was a 3000 square meter IT storage building that caught on fire, covering the entire area in smoke. Furthermore, another building in the area stores highly explosive car parts. Fortunately, no one was injured and the fire was put out by early afternoon.
Featured image: MTI / Bruzák Noémi
Minor injuries, house fires cause brunt of New Year’s Eve incidents in Hungary
Police were mainly called to incidents connected to fireworks and intoxication on New Year’s Eve, the police said in a statement on Monday.
The police have started 15 procedures against 12 people on misdemeanour charges. The cases included a petard lightly injuring an 8 year old child on her face and fire damages to family homes, the statement said.
Police spokesperson Judit Pap told public television on Monday morning that of the 28 road accidents on New Year’s Eve, one was fatal, when a Budapest tram hit a pedestrian. The man died immediately, she said. The police also apprehended 15 drunk drivers, she said.
The national disaster management authority’s spokesman told MTI that of the 157 emergency calls answered throughout the country on the last night of the year, 14 were about minor fires caused by fireworks. Cases involved a house fire in Fegyvernek, eastern Hungary, where a body was found in the burnt-out building, and other home fires without casualties.
The ambulance service reported over 3,000 emergency calls,
1,000 of which were called in from Budapest, the communications chief of the service said.
Most alerts came between midnight and 4am on Monday morning, Pál Győrfi said in a statement. Of the calls, 115 incidents were in connection with fireworks causing hand, face and eye injuries.
Traffic accidents, scuffles, carbon monoxide poisonings and sicknesses made up the brunt of the calls. Of the nearly 300 intoxications, about 15 involved minors, the statement said.
Speaking to public television on Monday morning, Pál Golopencza, head practitioner of the ambulance service, said that the service had deployed extra vehicles to deal with the increased demand. All cases were handled on time, he said.
A record low number of patients were brought to detoxification wards in Budapest,
public news channel M1 reported. Of a total of around 70 patients, at least two were minors, they said.
Photo: MTI
Massive storms left huge trails of destruction in Hungary
According to zoom.hu, the Hungarian Disaster Control Service was alarmed more than 3,700 times in the last few days among which 140 cases reported the damages of buildings.
Throughout the country, as the Hungarian National Directorate General for Disaster Management reported MTI, the stormy wind caused huge destruction and personal injuries.
In most cases, it were broken tree branches and fallen trees that caused problems, but in 2 cases, some passengers were also injured when the nearby trees fell onto their cars.
Zoom. hu also reported that in Budafok, a 40-year-old man was severely injured and had to be rescued by the ambulance after a tree had fallen onto him. During the storm, more than 140 alarms arrived to the Hungarian National Directorate General for Disaster Management about damages of buildings where in the majority of the cases, roof structures got extremely damaged. Most of the alarms came from Somogy, Fejér, Bács-Kiskun and Pest county and also from Budapest.
Destroyed roof/MTI/
/MTI Mohai Balázs/
No electricity
Due to the destructive storm, power lines were blown down and electric blackouts still affect around 83 Hungarian settlements. In these villages and towns, police officers are responsible for the supervision of order until the service of electricity gets restored. The damages caused by the storms are mostly taken care of by now, but firefighters are still working in the capital, in Pest and Bács-Kiskun county to repair the damages.
Moreover, for early morning, the rail transportation also got restored and now, the trains operate following their normal schedule.
Strong wind to come
The Hungarian Meteorological Service reported on Monday that in the following days,
the estimated windstorm speeds can reach 60-70 km/h.
In the morning, Northern Transdanubia and Jász-Nagykun county, later, in the afternoon Pest county should expect extremely powerful gust of wind.
Due to the turbulent windstorm, the Meteorological Service issues Severe Warnings to alert communities of the threat of the more serious storms in Pest, Fejér, Győr-Moson-Sopron, Komárom-Esztergom and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county. According to the weather forecast, on Monday, there can still be showers apart from the sunny weather. Furthermore, it might happen that in the mountains, locals could expect a snow flurry a bit earlier than the calendar winter starts.
Photos: MTI; commons.wikimedia.org
Dangerous: Hungary out of fire-fighters?
Starting a career as a fire-fighter is no longer attractive in Hungary – according to index.hu. Since salaries are low and the work is both physically and mentally wearing, many give up the job. Thus, average fire-fighters are now 40 years old in Hungary, which can cause some serious problems. In the past there used to be a waiting list for the entrants, now they have to recruit them. However, Hungarian National Organization For Rescue Services (HUNOR) states, based on official data, such problems do not exist.
Career in the past, almost no applicants at present
Nobody showed up on a recruitment organized by the local rescue services in Érd. According to index.hu local branch of HUNOR tried to recruit in two other cities of Pest County before. However, everybody went home after they learned that their salary will be only 40,000 forints (EUR 130) during the training. Officers in Érd say that one has to go even deeper in order to get to the root of the problem.
“The problem is huge.
I have never seen before that youth was tried to be recruited with the help of advertisements with the age limit of 55. This is very problematic”
– said one of the sources who have been working as a fire-fighter for decades. In addition, he cleared that formerly there were long waiting lists for the entrants and entrants had to wait for months or even years until they could start working. Furthermore, everybody could retire at the age of 50. Whereas today even a 55 year old can start working any time. Finally, it used to be unimaginable that somebody left the job before retirement. Today the fluctuation is big and while many leave almost no one comes. Even those who, after all, start to work as a fire-fighter leave soon if they get a better offer. And unfortunately, getting a better offer is not too difficult.
Low wages make fire-fighters go
“A young colleague of ours has just left us and started to work for a governmental company. His present net is more than his former gross!” – said a fire-fighter. Another one added: “one of our colleagues learned to become a TV mechanic. First, he started to work as a repair man only part-time, but when he received his first salary he left us and he works now as a full time mechanic”. And there are more of such stories.
For today it became difficult or sometimes impossible to go on holiday for a fire-fighter in Hungary. “In 2012, before the nationalization, the human resource manager talked about 32 as an average age in our branch. Now it is above 40.” – said one of the fire-fighters. Another fire-fighter added: “I heard from a HUNOR-manager that they have to deal even with the once rejected applicants. Thus,
I can clearly state that this endangers the whole service.”
All in all, why is the career of a fire-fighter no longer attractive in Hungary? Because
- the salary is 150-160.000 forints net (EUR 490-520)
- no one can retire at the age of 50.
- fire-fighters can no longer use the local swimming pool or fitness centre for free as before.
- there are no longer cheap summer camps for the kids of the fire-fighters.
- in practice, the annual reward is given for loyalty and not because of professional knowledge or achievement. Thus, it is called “face-money” among the fire-fighters.
- the subvention for starting a family has become symbolic.
- the system is centralized and bureaucratized.
HUNOR sees no problem
According to Lánglovagok,
the number of fire-fighters decreased from 3,287 to 2,501 between 2011 and 2015.
Even the trade unions registered the problem: according to their data the number of fire-engines dimished by 64 between 2013 and 2016.
However, HUNOR has not registered any problems. According to their answer given to index.hu the number of fire-fighters is increasing. While in 2010 that was only 9,364 in January 1, 2017 it has reached 10,324. HUNOR explained that the average age is on the increase, but this is only because the low fluctuation and the steadily rising salaries. Based on their data, average age is now altogether 39.5, while in the case of intervening fire-fighters it is 38.2. Furthermore, the new education system started in September 2012 and the number of the applicants times 4 or 5 the number of free places. Finally, the fluctuation of the rescue services is below 3% per year.
Photo: MTI
Hungarian girl did not hear train whistle because of headphones
Wednesday morning around half past six, a young girl was hit by the Gödöllő HÉV train in Kistarcsa, index.hu reports. She did not hear the train whistle because she was listening to music on her headphones.
Firefighters lifted the train off of her, Paramedics were taking care of her the whole time. She was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, Blikk is informed that her legs were so damaged that even the possibility of amputation has arisen.
The teenage girl did not want to be late for the train, probably that is why she put herself in danger and tried to run across the tracks before the train arrived.
Eye witnesses claimed that
The HÉV train was whistling, many people were waving and shouting to attract her attention to the danger, but she did not hear it because of the music, and just walked on.
By the time she realised that the train was near, she tried to jump away, but, because of a birth defect, her legs were faulty and she was unable to do so.
The train tossed the girl for more than 10 meters; she was stuck under the engine. Her mother ran crying to the station when she heard about what happened.
According to Bors, accidents because of headphones have happened before. Earlier a teenage girl was hit by a HÉV train on Mátyásföld, who walked on the tracks, listening to music – she did not survive the tragedy. In Sopron, last year, a man walked stepped before a moving train in a railway passage that was equipped with a barrier as well. He only suffered minor injuries.
Image: facebook.com/MÁV-HÉV-Zrt
Firefighters of Devecser receive fire truck as a donation from Switzerland
The firefighter brigade in Devecser received a new fire truck as a donation from Switzerland, reports veol.hu.
“With the aid of the newly received truck, the volunteer fire brigade of the town is now one of the most equipped fire brigades nationwide” – said mayor Gábor Ferenczi at the handover ceremony of the vehicle. The mayor highlighted that the town of Devecser would not have been able to afford such a vehicle from their own resources within the foreseeable future.
“This truck is a rarity, since it extinguishes fire with foam, water and powder,
it certainly makes the Devecser volunteer fire brigade one of the most equipped ones in Hungary.
So far we’ve been asking for help for obtaining a new truck in vain, but Gábor Staudt, Member of Parliament, and member of the Swiss-Hungarian friendship branch, told us about the offering from Switzerland” – the mayor said about the antecedents.
The donor, Swiss John McGough told us how happy he was to help. “Switzerland is famous for helping other nations. My wife is Hungarian, we have two sons, and therefore I would also like to show gratitude for my family with the 280 million HUF (~907,800 euro) worth donation to Hungary.”
Gábor Staudt expressed his pleasure that the actively working Swiss-Hungarian friendship branch was able to help and thus politics could be useful.
He believes a politician’s job is to help the economy the same way non-governmental organisations do, and they have to bring people together whenever it is possible,
then local communities can take care of the rest. Tamás Varga, Chairman for the Firefighting Association claims that the association’s development will increase with the help of the new truck. He said that they collaborate in the liquidation of damage 35-40 times a year, and they also train regularly. Ferenc Hanula, representative of Standard Oil assured the attendees that the company will pay for the costs of the maintenance of the previous truck of the association, will grant a parking place and will support the association in other ways, as well.
Photo: facebook.com/devecser
Ce: bm
Nearly a thousand hectares of land burned in Hortobágy National Park – PHOTOS
Nearly a thousand hectares of land has been destroyed by wildfires burning in the Hortobágy National Park in eastern Hungary, a deputy spokesperson for Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County’s disaster management authority told MTI early on Friday.
Over 80 firefighters are fighting to put out the fires and they are being assisted by military water-dropping helicopters, Erika Szepesi said.
An area of undergrowth caught fire on Thursday and around 600 hectares of vegetation has been destroyed in the reedy, grassy areas, Dániel Mukics, deputy spokesman for the national disaster management authority, said. More than a thousand hectares of the national park is under threat from the fires, he said, adding that inhabited areas are were not in danger.
Fighting the fires has proven challenging because much of the area burning is swampy wetlands and some of these areas are impossible to access, Mukics added.
Photos: MTI
Firefighters working to contain scrub fire along 30km of rail track in N Hungary
More than 40 firefighters are working to contain a scrub fire next to 30kms of rail track between Komárom and Kisbér, in northern Hungary, a local disaster management spokesman said on Sunday afternoon.
It is thought dry scrubland caught fire after a cargo train engine emitted hot gases. Attempts are under way to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby acacia woodland.
Replacement buses are transporting affected passengers, railway traffic information service Mavinform said.
A huge storm washed away Hungary and caused a lot of damage
A huge storm swept across the country yesterday. According to privatbankar.hu, the hitches were mostly caused by fallen trunks and split off branches. The assessment of the damage is still being carried out.
A crazy storm washed away the country yesterday evening and night. The rain drift caused a lot of issues all over the country, therefore the firefighters were called to 200 places due to fallen trunks, split off branches and injuries. They received the most alarm calls in Somogy, Fejér and Pest Counties.
For instance, some people got injured in Siófok due to split off branches, while a bus crashed into a fallen trunk is Fejér County. The train traffic was obstructed by fallen trunks in several spots on the southern Balaton train line, and there were blackouts in a few villages.
According to the weather forecast, further storms can be expected in the upcoming days, so meteorologists ordered a first-degree alarm in the whole country. The Hungarian Disaster Management Directorate asks everyone to pay attention to the alarms, especially if you’re at the lakeside.
Budapest was also affected by the storm, the firefighters received the most alarm calls in the 3rd, 17th and 18th districts due to fallen trunks and split off branches. A train ran at a voluminous branch on Nagykőrösi Road, while a tree fell before a train at the Rákospalota train station.
Moreover, a tree fell onto a car in Városfal utca (3rd district). Besides the districts mentioned above, the firefighters were also called to several locations in Újpest. Fortunately, no one got injured in the capital city.
As we wrote, the hottest dawn was recorded in Hungary on Tuesday.
Featured image: MTI
Ce: bm
Fire breaks out in Korda film studio – UPDATE
Etyek, March 21 (MTI) – A fire broke out on Tuesday morning in a 1,500sqm facility of the Korda film studio in Etyek, 30km west of Budapest. No injuries have been reported, according to the disaster management directorate of Fejér County.
Scenery, accessories and paints caught fire, a disaster management spokesman said in a statement. At the time the fire broke out, there were 30-40 people in the facility. All of them managed to escape unharmed.
Firefighters were still tackling the fire from outside the building as it was too dangerous to enter due to falling objects. The roof warped, a sign of a fire producing considerable heat, Gábor Farkas-Bozsik said. Firefighters continually cooled the roof from the outside in a bid to prevent its collapse, he said.
Production manager Daniel Kresmery told MTI that a film was being shot in the facility in question and the scenery must have caught fire. There was no work going on in the building when the fire broke out at 8.30am.
Mid Atlantic Films’ Robin Hood was being shot in the studio.
The studio contains six sound stages, one of them among the biggest in the world. Current productions include Robin Hood: Origins and Blade Runner 2049.
UPDATE
The fire was put out in the early afternoon. Due to concentrated efforts, the fire was localised and, thanks to continuous cooling from outside, the roof of the building did not collapse, the spokesman said.
The disaster management authority will conduct an investigation to establish the cause of the fire on Wednesday, its spokesman told MTI on Tuesday evening. The fire left a vast amount of debris and burnt material at the compound, Gábor Farkas-Bozsik said.
The studio told MTI it could provide information about the material damage and the extent of delay in the shooting time schedule at a later time.
Photo: MTI