MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. A total of 160 firefighters and 45 items of special equipment are involved in an effort to extinguish a major blaze at a warehouse in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg, the Russian emergencies ministry’s press service told TASS.

"The fire crew involved in the firefighting effort has been increased to include 160 people and 45 items of special equipment," the press service said.

The fire broke out late on Tuesday and was initially said to engulf the area of 1,000 square meters of the 24,000-square-meter warehouse. Later, the area of the fire grew to 6,000 square meters and then doubled to about 12,000 square meters. A firefighting train is used in the effort to tackle the blaze.