The Prague fire brigade ceremoniously opened its new armory in Holešovice
The Argentine fire station was completed last September and the construction cost 367 million crowns. The first fire engines started leaving at the beginning of this year. “The station is already operating normally, on January 5 we started trial operation,” said the director of the fire brigade.
In addition to the rescue exit station and the regional administrative directorate, the diving base, which was located in Argentinská Street in the past, should also be part of the complex in the future. The station will now also serve as a base for international rescue teams, or will accept teams from.
“It is a concept of integration of individual integrated components of the rescue system so that they can cooperate,” added Mayor Zdeněk Hřib, who attended the opening ceremony.
The new building was built on the site of a former wooden fire station from 1942. Originally a temporary protectorate armory, representatives of the fire brigade called it the worst base in the country because it had been in a state of disrepair for a long time. In the winter, firefighters even often threatened to keep their water frozen in tanks. The building was not completely demolished until the beginning of 2020.
Holešovice Armory is the station with the second highest number of exits in Prague. “On average, firefighters from Argentina handle about 1,600 events a year,” Prudil said. 26 firefighters will serve at the station in one shift, who will serve the area with about 220,000 inhabitants and will have up to 16 fire trucks. “The armory in Holešovice will serve as the central fire station of the fire brigade of the capital city of Prague,” Vlček added.
Despite the fact that the reconstruction of fire brigades is usually financed by the city, in the case of the construction of a new building, the Ministry of the Interior issued 367 million crowns, under which all fire brigades in the country fall. The land on which the fire station is located was bought by the state from the capital almost ten years ago.
In the future, the construction of new fire exit stations in Březiněves and Běchovice is also planned in the metropolis.