Smoking likely caused fatal apartment fire in Rauma, police say

Police in southwestern Finland have ruled out foul play in a deadly apartment fire in Rauma that killed two women on Sunday, stating that smoking is the most probable cause of the blaze.

The fire broke out shortly before 4 a.m. in a row house on Lensunkalliontie street, according to a police statement. Emergency services found two deceased women in one of the three apartments—identified as a woman in her fifties and her mother—while a second apartment was unoccupied. Two residents in the third unit were examined by paramedics but did not require hospitalisation.

Investigators concluded that no evidence suggests criminal activity. “Based on the technical investigation at the scene, the fire most likely started due to smoking,” the police statement said.

The case remains under investigation as a fire-cause and death-cause inquiry.