Apartment fire sends three-metre flames from Helsinki balcony

An apartment fire sent flames three metres into the air from a balcony in Helsinki’s Kontula area early Saturday morning, Yle reported. No one was injured.

The fire started in a bedroom, which was completely destroyed. The bedroom door was closed, preventing the fire from spreading through the door to the rest of the apartment. However, the fire broke the bedroom window and spread to the balcony.

“Three-metre flames were coming out from the balcony when the fire brigade arrived,” Miika Mustonen, a fire officer with Helsinki’s rescue department, told Yle.

The flames also broke the window of an adjoining bedroom and damaged that room. The balcony glazing shattered and fell to the ground.

The apartment’s residents left after noticing the fire. The apartment above suffered minor smoke damage, while extinguishing water seeped through the structures into the apartment below, causing water damage.

The rescue department was alerted shortly after 5 a.m. and completed the extinguishing operation at around 7 a.m. Police are investigating the cause of the fire.