Fire destroys supermarket in Näätämö, northern Finland

A major fire has completely destroyed a Nord1-Market supermarket in Näätämö, Inari, northern Finland, leaving only ruins behind, reports Finnish public broadcaster Yle. The blaze broke out on Saturday evening, with damage estimated in the millions of euros.

Emergency services battled the fire throughout the night after receiving the alarm at 7:25 PM local time. The nearest Norwegian rescue units arrived from Kirkkoniemi, 50 kilometres away, while five units from Finland’s Lapland Emergency Services travelled 180 kilometres from Ivalo. Firefighting concluded by 7 AM Sunday, with an excavator later moving debris to prevent reignition.

Police and emergency services are investigating the cause and spread of the fire but currently do not suspect criminal activity. The supermarket, located near the Norwegian border, was previously featured in Yle’s Egenland programme in 2018.

A neighbouring K-Market, just 15 metres away, survived largely unscathed—likely due to calm wind conditions, according to its owner, Juha-Matti Lias. “This is a shocking event. I can’t even process it yet,” Lias told Yle, adding that the loss for the Nord1-Market’s owners is substantial. Most customers at both stores come from Norway.