The day the hotel burned, a photo from Parnumaa, West

Photographer's Note

This was among the first things I saw after I arrived in the Estonian seaside town of Pärnu in early summer of 2013. A small hotel was on fire, fortunately not where I had booked a room.

With this fire in mind I was a bit upset to be rudely awakened by the fire alarm at 6 next morning in my own hotel. I nervously dressed and grabbed a few of my most valuable belongings, in case I would never return to my room, and hurried downstairs. It turned out that the alarm had been set off by smoke rising from a vacuum cleaner as they were cleaning the restaurant.

What grabbed my attention in this photo were the devastated looks of the three women, probably evacuated from the burning hotel, and one woman's upset gesture towards the man in the blue shirt.

If you search the map coordinates 58.38386 24.49903 you will land in this street. If you go beyond what remains of the blue building and turn back, you can see the still partly charred side wall of the green house. The Google photos were taken in July 2014, just over a year after the fire.

I tried to enter the figures the intended way but was prevented by one of the usual TE bugs.

Here is a larger version.

snunney, papagolf21, ChrisJ, pajaran, alvaraalto, jhm, Royaldevon, ikeharel, rychem, Fis2, cornejo, CLODO, danos, clic, COSTANTINO, GyurMaster, macjake, PiotrF, jean113, pierrefonds, adramad, mcmtanyel oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

snunney (130965) 2018-03-27 1:38

Hello Gert,
Not a very nice experience for anyone, bad enough if it's a false alarm and like you I have had one or two of those. Interesting street capture with a story to relate. Excellent technical realisation.

jmdias (91838) 2018-03-27 1:42

gert

from this angle the fire didn't looks so great, but probably was burning the back part of the building. nice flagrant of the moment and people.

take care

jorge

papagolf21 (145016) 2018-03-27 2:16

Bonjour, cher Gert,
Trčs bon reportage du feu en action. Pourtant, les pompiers s'activent !
Des vacances qui se déroulent pas agréablement avec ce début d'incendie.
J'aime la présentation de la scčne trčs réaliste.
Amitiés.
Philippe

ChrisJ (152324) 2018-03-27 2:26

Hello Gert,

In view of the recent horrific cinema fire in Siberia in which many people were killed, it pays to be cautious. In October 2008, someone triggered the fire alarm at 3:30 am by smoking an illicit substance in their room, despite warning signs everywhere there was no smoking indoors. I grabbed what I could find in the dark. Managed to find a warm coat but not my shoes. I was standing outside in the falling snow for an hour until the fire brigade had arrived and given the all clear. By law in Canada, the hostel cannot cancel the call to the fire station, once made. A good photojurnalistic shot. Tfs!

Nicou (188346) 2018-03-27 2:42

Hlelo

Il y a incendie quelle vue et compo quelle image de ce lance et giclement de l'eau avec les pompiers sueprbe vue et captage et scčne espérons quel les dégâts ne soient pas trop graves.
Bravo et amitié
Nicou

pajaran (92062) 2018-03-27 3:09

Dobar dan.
Interesantan pogled, opasan trenutak, dobar tekst ...
Lepo pokzano mesto i trenutak, dobra perspektiva i kontarst, elpe boje, lepo uhvacen trenutak sa vatrogascima koji gase pozar. Nadam se da je pozar uspesno ugasen i da nije bilo povredjenih.
Zelim vam lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Tue (71792) 2018-03-27 3:24

Hello Gert,
What a shame, the blue building seems to have been such a charming building, just like the green one next to it, so it is very sad to see the result of the fire in Streetview. This is an excellent news photo, though. You captured both what happened as well as people's reaction really well in one composition. Really good photo work.
Lars

alvaraalto (38574) 2018-03-27 4:24

Hello Gert
Not an actual reportage of a hotel fire, but unmistakable a presentation of a journalist. Not only the image but also the associated texts.
I like the rich content of the scene and the three ladies are indeed an important element to dramatize the scene.
Great presentation.
Have a nice day, groet Rob

jhm (191245) 2018-03-27 5:16

Hello Gert,

I find this always a very sad moment when the houses are on fire.
You create a nice depth and perspective.
Real a daily life picture a great moment image.
Lovely presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John

Sergiom (115586) 2018-03-27 5:50

Bonjour Gert,

Cela doit ętre terrible d'arriver devant son hôtel et de constater qu'il est en flammes. Cela doit briser des vacances, mais tu as su en profiter pour prendre une belle photo d'action. En espérant qu'il n'y ait pas de blessés.

Amicalement

Serge

Silvio1953 (191113) 2018-03-27 6:38

Ciao gert, great reportage, fantastic scene, wonderful colors and splendid clarity, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

jimmj63 (0) 2018-03-27 7:37

ciao Gert,
very good reporter's capture, very well composed, a good job,
ciao, Giacomo

Royaldevon (64246) 2018-03-27 8:09

Hello Gert,

I know fires and accidents are terrible things but, as curious beings, we just can't help being attracted to them, to take in the emergency. I also believe that they give us a great sense of relief that the emergency is not happening to us!

You are right about the lady with outstretched arms, she is the figure who is really activating our sympathy. Most of the scene is a very interesting spectacle but the lady deepens our emotions.

I really empathise with your feelings when you were alerted by an alarm. Having witnessed this the previous day, you must have been on high alert! There have been some very appalling fires around the world recently with huge loss of life!

Kind regards,
Bev :-)

rychem (68021) 2018-03-27 8:24

A very good reportage shot, but it isnt the adventure that we want to have, I hope nobody was sick or wounded, very well realised
regards Ryszard

Cricri (176) 2018-03-27 8:50

Hi Gert
Photo reportage, l'action des pompiers, les jets d'eau sur hôtel en feu, l'agitation des personnes, triste de voir ce bel hôtel en feu et pour les personnes de hôtel
Belle soirée
cricri

Fis2 (142527) 2018-03-27 9:49

Witaj Gert!
Interesting scene, excellent reportage shot.
You've come to the right moment.
Good frame, colors and light.
Water effect makes impression.
Well done.
Good evening.
Krzysztof

lousat (120939) 2018-03-27 10:33

Hi Gert,not the best show that a tourist dreams to watch,but a very interesting opportunity to take something of different like a reporter. Perfect capture of what happens for this small hotel, i have a chance to see a cruise boat burn in Zanzibar,but never a building. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

cornejo (61174) 2018-03-27 10:54

Hello Gert, very good image of photojournalism with this unrepeatable moment, very well captured in this interesting image, with good sharpness, depth, light, color and quality. Very good and interesting work perfectly done, my congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing.

Good night and happy week.
Warm greetings from the south of Spain.
Angel.

CLODO (42421) 2018-03-27 23:32

Hi Gert

You're a good photo reporter, while the firemen attack the fire, some escape and with the woman's gesture, we feel she has lost everything
Cheers
CLODO

dkmurphys (77034) 2018-03-28 0:05

Hello,
Sad to see a tragic event, afterall you were like a reporter at the scene, at that time... I hope the owners managed the tragedy.

Daniel

danos (110395) 2018-03-28 4:29

Hello Gert,
the snapshot of the fire with the fireman in action with the lot of smoke in the atmosphere makes the image so dramatic as live too.A good reportage from the town with the burning hotel.

Regards,danos

clic (22824) 2018-03-28 7:17

Hallo Gert Your rapid reaction to a distant fire alarm confirms your irrevocable nature of reporter! To my knowledge, pictures of disasters are very rare on TE. The characters' body language betrays surges of adrenalin and concern allover the picture, facing the calamity, while behind the police cordon the thrill seekers enjoy!! Much depth seen despite smoke. Hjartliga halsningar.

COSTANTINO (93376) 2018-03-28 11:48

Hello dear Gert and have a nice time
what could I saY????Nothing because
one shot is one thousand words
welldone
regards
Costantino

boa (8039) 2018-03-28 11:59

Hej Gert,
du publicerar bra bilder i ett rasande tempo som jag bara kan drömma om, fast ĺ andra sidan sĺ är jag inte här sĺ ofta! Den här bilden kan man knappast kalla "Nothing special"! Stor dramatik pĺ gatan! Hoppas att ingen blev skadad och inte heller nĺn av de vackra byggnaderna som finns i Pärnu. Fast med tanke pĺ att en person är pĺ väg in i byggnaden bredvid sĺ kanske det inte var sĺ allvarligt. Du har iallafall lyckats att fĺnga dramatiken och händelseförloppet med en bild. Du ger ocksĺ en liten inblick av Pärnus vackra bebyggelse!

Hälsningar/
Boa

GyurMaster (16618) 2018-03-28 11:59

Dear Gert,

This photo is an excellent photo report of this sad event. As you also highlighted its the woman's gesture what sells the picture. Besides that water rays and the working fireman also offer a lot of interesting details to be observed. The note is also interesting.

Best Wishes,
Gy

emka (139064) 2018-03-28 14:44

Hello Gert, This picture reminds me the hotel in in Punta Arenas in Argentina, where the hotel burnt just the day when I had booked my stay, but I was so lucky to change my reservation before. Ten people were not fortunate and lost their lives. Sad picture.
Warm regrads from NZ

MAlgo

ikeharel (98732) 2018-03-29 3:11

Hello Gert,
A decisive moment par excellene, and something that remain in one person memory for long: my first memory at the age of 3 was a fire in a shoemakerr's store across the street in Givatayim.
The face expression of the lady in the middle of the three says it all. Hope no casualties in this event.
You were at the right place and time, did take that on record.
Goo afternoon,
Ike

mesutilgim (115374) 2018-03-29 10:47

Hello Gert,
Interesting capture and entry in your TE pages.
Many interesting and educative notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

dale54 (15938) 2018-03-29 11:07

gert hello-good evening..nice lively-action shot,well timed and taken,wonderful work my friend! happy easter! tfs dale

macjake (92585) 2018-03-29 12:14

Hi Gert
for obvious reasons the title of the photo caught my attention. ya, hearing a fire alarm early next morning would have made my heart skip a few beats as well. i fine reportage type of photo, i wonder if the hotel is back up and running now, you'd think so after these few years. interesting take, not the usual Tourist photo haha
cheers
Craig

jemaflor (125641) 2018-03-29 12:40

Hi Gert,
a good photo report with the view of the street with firemen and sad people, well made.

PiotrF (42552) 2018-03-29 16:52

Hello Gert,
Interesting reportage shot.
A very nice street capture with good composition and beautiful colors.
Fine presentation.
Regards
Piotr

carlo62 (81023) 2018-03-30 14:19

Ciao Gert
una foto inusuale per TE, ma molto eloquente, come dici tu, gli sguardi delle donne spiegano bene la situazione.
Sono momenti molto confusi e la paura puň far commettere degli errori, bisogna mantenere la calma.
Buon we
Carlo

jean113 (16029) 2018-03-31 8:30

Hello Gert, the woman gesturing with her open arms immediately grabs our attention, and we really feel for her.
An excellent documentary shot.
I can't imagine how you must have felt, seeing this scene on your arrival!
It is so sharp with an excellent depth of field.
Regards Jean.

kasianowak (13989) 2018-03-31 12:37

A true journalist, most people would just stand there and watch, some others, seeing the street is closed would curse this discruption in their journey. You made it into a reportage. Perfect timing to show the story.

pierrefonds (93485) 2018-03-31 16:47

HI Gert,

You have captured well the action of the firemen and of the people walking around. The point of view is showing the details of the buildings and of the smoke. THe shrpness is very good. Have a nice day.

Pierre

adramad (62610) 2018-04-01 8:37

Hello Gert.
A real scene of life itself, although the arrangement of the characters seems a movie scene, on the back side the street is cordoned off, the same as it should be on this side, however I see the three ladies walking, another man goes towards them, the black car is close while a person takes something from it and a man enters the adjoining house, all a little unreal, for what I see on TV, when something similar happens here.
Excellent POV, with very good lighting, color and sharpness to enjoy the details.
Very good work. I like it
Enjoy a happy Sunday.
Very best regards.
Luis.

mcmtanyel (54455) 2018-04-01 21:25

Hello Gert,
A truly journalistic photo of a sad event. I searched Google map for the coordinates you provided and by magnifying the map, I even got to a 360-degree photo showing the remnant of this hotel. Let me see if I can link to it here.
Regards,
MT

gervaso (27373) 2018-04-02 8:52

Hello, Gert!

You were lucky to be there at the right time (but of course not in this hotel!) to show us the interesting daily life of the firemen, always surrounded by the curious people watching the scene. A perfect photo for a report on the fire on a newspaper! Very good job!

Miguel82 (35744) 2019-10-16 13:52

Gert, this is both an action and a journalistic shot. Firefighters use fire hoses to extinguish the fire spreading in the hotel. The three women evacuated seem shocked by the accident. Fine colors, good image quality, absorbing photo note, regards.