The Editorial Office of 'Novoye Vremya' Newspaper Affected by Fire

On January 18, at 11:47 AM, a report was received at the 911 emergency call center that a fire had broken out on the first floor of the Press Building on Arshakunyats Avenue in Yerevan. The fire was contained by 1:41 PM and fully extinguished by 2:03 PM, according to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Emergency responders were dispatched to the scene with a "1-BIS" call complexity, including four firefighting units from the Yerevan Rescue Department, as well as an operational group from the Firefighting and Rescue Operations Organization Division. Rescuers evacuated 50 citizens.

The fire affected the electrical cable insulation in the air shaft (located on floors 1-8), electrical meters, and household items in one first-floor room (covering an area of 15 square meters), and caused thermal damage to a door and ceiling in one of the rooms on the third floor.

Ruben Satyanyan, editor-in-chief of 'Novoye Vremya', told NEWS.am that the editorial office, located on the third floor of the building, suffered preliminary damages estimated at 5-6 thousand dollars.

"The corridor is completely flooded, the ceiling has collapsed, the door is broken, the window is shattered. Fortunately, the newspapers did not ignite; if they had, it would have been a very intense fire. The worst part is that the firefighters say there is no damage. The newspaper's operations are currently at a standstill; I'm considering what to do, whether to rent another place or temporarily move somewhere else. I don’t know; it’s an uncertain situation," he stated in an interview with the media.

Satyanyan added that he asked Kh. Babayan, the deputy director of the National Center for Technical Safety, about what would happen and how compensation would be provided. Babayan replied that they would calculate the damages and left. "No sympathy, nothing. He just turned around and said, ‘Well, we’ll calculate it,’ and walked away," Satyanyan added.