Fires in Finland

Photo from YLE

I've noted in the past how often you seem to see fire stories in the Finnish press. I wondered whether Finland is really fire-prone or whether the media just lacks other stories in what is after all a boring safe and uneventful city. But no, today the Ministry of Employment which basically is the back end of the Presidential Palace - and just a few hundred metres from my office managed to burst into flames. You can see a video of the fire here. No one hurt fortunately, but lots of damage and huge traffic chaos with one tram line (that goes past my work) shutting down. Fortunately I was on my bike today. The pic below I snapped on my phone of the still smoldering building, five or so hours after the fire had broken-out, as I was cycling home.


Friday 13th eh?