Fire spread through Helsinki apartment block due to faulty fire barriers

A fire that tore through a residential building in Helsinki’s Kalasatama district spread rapidly because of gaps and poor construction in the building’s fire compartments, according to an accident report obtained by Yle from rescue services.

The blaze, which began on the fourth-floor balcony of an apartment block on Leonkatu on Saturday evening, expanded to multiple sections of the building because the fire barriers intended to contain it were either incomplete or improperly sealed. The same defects allowed smoke to spread throughout the structure.

Emergency services were alerted to the fire at 20:55. Earlier, Helsinki’s building supervision authority told Yle it had no record of any deficiencies in the building.