Smolenskaya Square (Moscow) fire of May 11, 2009
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Garden_Ring_fire_May_11%2C_2009_42.jpg/200px-Garden_Ring_fire_May_11%2C_2009_42.jpg)
12:20
[edit]May 11, 2009 was a public holiday in Russia. Moscow students were running their annual relay race across the en:Garden Ring, so the whole Ring was cleared of street traffic, with cops guarding every intersection.
12:23
[edit]TV crew films the race at Smolenskaya Square. Across the square, a wrecking crew pulls apart a historical three-storey building to make way for more offices. Adjacent (left) two-storey structure, another old building wrapped in black plastic, is a gambling den. Watch some yellow smoke pulling up...
12:27-12:29
[edit]No doubt it's on fire. In two minutes, yellow dust-like smoke changes colour to menacing black
12:30
[edit]Fire engines arrive on scene.
12:33
[edit]A wave of runners reaches the site. Some are still running...
some actually fly!
12:44-12:50
[edit]"Where do I run now?" - "You're not running anywhere, buddy!"
12:42-13:10
[edit]Meanwhile, open fire breaks out at the top of the facade.
Remember the excavator machine involved in demolition? It's still there. Might've been the only casualty of this fire, but I guess it's still salvageable.
Firefighters
Cops and tow truckers
13:10-13:30
[edit]As seen from the neighboring blocks. No, the church is not on fire.
At this point the photographer decided he's had his share of carcinogens and left the scene. Firefighting continued until 16:37 (says the news channel). There were no fatalities and no injuries. The relay race, as usually, was won by Moscow's Eastern District; Nizhny Novgorod team came second.