18 Pavilions and 4 Storage Areas at Fire Scene, Says Surmalu Official

During the fire, there were a total of 18 pavilions and 4 storage areas. Vardan Manukyan, the manager of the Surmalu shopping center, stated this in an interview with NEWS.am.

“At the moment, we have provided everyone with free areas to relocate their remaining goods, and then we will decide what to do next. There is a council in place that will make the determination,” he said. “I cannot say what damages have been incurred. People had both large and small warehouses,” he added.

Manukyan mentioned that he received a call at 3:10 AM, informing him of the fire. “I was here in 3-4 minutes. At that time, there were already 4-5 firefighting units, which later increased to 8, 10, and then 12. The firefighters were working very hard,” said the official. “The pavilions mainly contained stationery items and toys,” he added.

Earlier, it was reported that on April 6 at 03:07, an alarm was triggered at the Crisis Management National Center via the SOS Systems fire alarm system for a situation at the Surmalu canned goods market located at 15 Arshakunyats Avenue, Yerevan. It was determined that the fire broke out in the central building of the Surmalu shopping center, covering an area of approximately 2000 square meters.

Six firefighting units responded to the scene, along with a ladder truck, under a level 2 alarm status due to the complexity of the fire. Later, an additional 8 firefighting units arrived. The fire was contained by 06:24 AM. The affected areas included pavilions dedicated to toys and household goods. The Minister of Emergency Situations, Andranik Piloyan, was present at the scene.