November the 20th, 2025 – The devastating fire that engulfed the iconic Vjesnik building in Zagreb has rendered the now semi-skeletal structure unstable and “very risky”.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a highly aggressive fire took hold, spread rapidly and eventually all but destroyed the Vjesnik building on Monday night. Firefighters fought the blaze throughout the night and into Tuesday, and the stench of smoke could be felt for hours after the flames were finally extinguished.
Structural engineers have completed the inspection of the Vjesnik building, and have described it as being unstable following the fire. As 24sata unofficially learned, the structural engineers have decided not to let anyone inside until everything cools down, with Slavonska avenija remaining closed.
The results were presented by Dominik Skokandić, assistant professor at the Department of Structures of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and special advisor for the reconstruction of the Ministry of Construction, Mario Uroš, structural engineer from HCPI, and Marko Vezlek from the City Office for Civil Protection and Safety.
“The Ministry, in cooperation with experts from HCPI and fire experts, has been conducting a continuous inspection of the Vjesnik building. A drone inspection and an internal inspection were also carried out. At the moment, the only priority is the safety of the firefighters, whom I’d like to congratulate on their work, and the people who use this road. It’s too early to talk about what the eventual fate of the Vjesnik building will be. The situation remains the same today,” said Skokandić.
“We conducted an inspection with drones from the outside of the building, of all the structural elements, which was enough for us to see if we could enter the building. There’s a lot of burnt material inside. The conclusion is that the building is still unstable, firefighters have done 99 percent of the work, all that remains is to remove the smoke. If it starts to catch fire again, they have water cannons. The temperature inside is still much too high, above room temperature. The columns and load-bearing elements are still warm and the second phase has not yet taken place, and based on that, we cannot guarantee anyone that they can safely enter the building.
The perimeter around the building will remain intact for a few more days, partly because of visible cracks, and partly because of invisible ones. The concrete has lost its load-bearing capacity in two to three places, where the archive was burning and where the temperatures were exceptionally high. We will continue to monitor the building and watch to see whether new cracks will form. We’ll inspect the outside with drones and we will minimise any need for internal inspections. An additional analysis will be conducted next week. We’re still adhering to these measures.
The Vjesnik building is now a risk, we believe that the structure has lost part of its initial load-bearing capacity and that it is unstable following the fire. The issue of partial collapse exists, but this possibility is relatively small and will decrease as it cools down over time. However, there are significant cracks that must be monitored in case of expansion. It’s also possible to repair and restore such elements and strengthen the building, but in the next few days we must monitor how it cools and how the material behaves before we can do much else,” concluded Uroš.
