Fire at Koczargi Stare care home leaves 19-year-old dead after five residents evacuated

Fire at family care home in Koczargi Stare

Emergency services received an alert regarding a blaze in a single-family house shortly past 12:00 on Saturday, 3 October 2026. The property, situated in the village of Koczargi Stare in Warsaw West County, was being used as a residential family care facility. When the initial response units reached the location, fire was consuming a substantial portion of the building, with flames particularly concentrated across the attic level. Dense and toxic smoke quickly spread through the interior corridors, creating severe visibility issues and hindering immediate intervention inside the structure.

Four firefighting units were dispatched to the scene to extinguish the blaze and secure the perimeter. The operation required extensive resources to manage the heavy smoke and contain the flames within the residential property. Junior Captain Damian Dolniak from the District Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Stare Babice described the conditions faced by the emergency teams during the initial intervention.

The attic of the single-family house was on fire. There was heavy smoke. In one of the rooms, firefighters found the body of a 19-year-old man.

Evacuation and discovery of the victim

Prior to the arrival of emergency personnel, the son of the care facility owners took action to rescue the residents trapped inside. He entered the burning building and successfully guided five individuals out of the rooms to safety outside. Warsaw Metropolitan Police confirmed that none of the five evacuated residents suffered physical injuries during the evacuation or the fire.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the smoke-filled rooms to conduct search and rescue operations while fighting the flames. During the room-by-room search, crews located the charred remains of a 19-year-old man inside one of the compartments. Junior Aspirant Jakub Gontarek from the press team of the Warsaw Metropolitan Police provided details on the evacuation and the recovery.

This was a family care home. Even before the arrival of the firefighters, the son of the owners led five people out of the building. However, during the search of the rooms, firefighters came across the charred body of a 19-year-old man.

Ongoing investigation into the cause

The firefighting operation, which involved four separate fire brigades, extended over multiple hours before the blaze was fully suppressed. After extinguishing the flames, emergency crews secured the perimeter around the single-family house to preserve the scene for forensic examination. Specialist teams remained on site throughout the afternoon to assess structural stability and support investigative work.

The origin and cause of the fire remain unconfirmed. Police officers are carrying out an inquiry under the direct supervision of a regional prosecutor. A forensic fire expert was called to the location to conduct technical examinations, pinpoint the precise seat of the fire, and determine whether the tragedy resulted from technical malfunction, an accidental occurrence, or human error.