Fire guts car dealership in Mäntsälä

A two-storey building housing a car dealership and apartments was destroyed by fire in Mäntsälä on Friday afternoon, Yle reports.

The building on Päivärinteenpolku road is home to Americar, a business owned by Veli Kärkkäinen. He confirmed the incident to Yle.

Kärkkäinen was berry picking in the wilderness of Posio when he learned of the fire at his dealership early Friday evening. His first reaction was disbelief.

“This can’t be true,” he said.

The fire broke out in the upper-floor offices of Americar Oy. The cause remains unclear, though the fire chief suspects an electrical device. No one was present at the time.

The dealership had operated in the same building since 2006. While the showroom and spare parts warehouse were destroyed, the cars for sale—stored outside—were unharmed, though their keys were lost in the building.

“A piece of me burned too,” Kärkkäinen said of seeing the images.

Business will resume from a home office on Monday. Kärkkäinen plans to return to Mäntsälä on Sunday to assess the damage in person.

“I don’t think the break will be very long. Modern technology is good that way—all the data is on laptops,” he noted.