The Lame Horse fire occurred on 5 December 2009, around 1 a.m. local time in the nightclub Khromaya Loshad (Russian: «Хромая лошадь», "Lame Horse") at 9 Kuybyshev Street, Perm, Russia. The fire started when sparks from pyrotechnics ignited the low ceiling and its willow twig covering. The fire quickly spread to the walls and damaged the building's electrical wiring, causing the lights to fail.[1]

156 people died as a result of the fire.[2] According to initial reports, up to 160 more were injured in the fire; however, many of the wounded lost their lives in the following days in hospitals. The nightclub was in the middle of a celebration of its eighth anniversary at the time.[3][4][5] A total of 282 people had reportedly been invited to the club's anniversary party.[6]

Fire

Approximately 300 people were in the club for the club's anniversary celebration when the fire began.[7][8] Ignition occurred when a performance artist threw cold-flame pyrotechnics into the air. Sparks from the fireworks hit the plastic covering of the ceiling, igniting it. The event's master of ceremonies then told the guests to evacuate. As the crowd began to calmly exit the building, the wooden decorations on the interior walls of the club ignited, and the building filled with smoke.[9][10]

When the evacuation started, some people left via rear exits. The vast intake of oxygen turned the club's hall into a large fire tube and boosted the spread of fire.[11] As fumes and smoke overtook the air, panic erupted and patrons stampeded toward the exit. According to witnesses, one leaf of the club's double doors was sealed shut, and the public was unaware of the backdoor exit behind the stage not shown by emergency lighting.[12]

A club visitor's report about emergency service activity:[11]

After I had got out, there were no firemen or emergency service for about twenty minutes — nobody at all. <…> There were only two ambulances altogether. They managed to take six or seven men and left. No more ambulance cars arrived, at least I saw none. Firemen had pulled out a number of people by then. Half-clothed, they were simply laid on the cold asphalt. Nobody cared for them. It seemed that the aid was needed but there were no ambulances. <…> People were lying on the ground for about an hour and a half. Definitely for no less than an hour. It could be that many of them died because of this. Because of the cold. It was 16 degrees below zero outdoors. These were the strongest impressions: people lying in snow for an hour without any aid.

Another report of a volunteer involved in evacuation:[13]

I rushed to the ambulance which for unclear reasons was standing far off at the crossroads. I asked why they were idling and they replied that they hadn’t been given orders. It turned out that we pulled out a lot of people most of which were still alive. I think it was possible to save around 70 percent of them within first seconds. But nobody helped. <…> I drove to the 9th medical post. Asked a guard where the toxicology department was. Found the door of the admission room and started to knock but nobody opened it for a long time. Then they looked out saying that they would come out soon and vanished. So I came in by myself, delivered them a man and drove back. By that time the officials had already arrived and the place of tragedy had been cordoned. I ran to firemen, asked how I could help but there were enough men without me, so I went round looking for injured who needed to be taken to their homes. Most of the people whom we had brought out earlier were already covered.

156 people[14][2] were known to have died as a result of the fire - 94 at the scene and the rest in hospitals. During three days following the fire, EMERCOM used specially equipped "mobile hospital" Il-76TD aircraft to transport 65 injured to Moscow and 28 to St. Petersburg. Most of the injured who were transported to Moscow and Saint Petersburg had poor prognoses for recovery.[15] By December 2009, 35 fire victims in hospitals had very poor prognoses. Most victims in more serious conditions needed around 2–3 months of treatment and a year of rehabilitation afterwards, including multiple reconstructive surgeries.[16]