Man gets suspended sentence for fires in Kangasala

Yle reports that a district court in Pirkanmaa has sentenced a 36-year-old man to one year and two months of suspended imprisonment for two counts of arson and two counts of criminal damage in Kangasala.

The court also ordered him to complete 60 hours of community service and pay just under 2,000 euros in compensation. The man admitted the conduct described in the charges.

In June 2026, he set a stroller and a bicycle alight in the basement of an apartment building. Prosecutors said the fire posed a danger to life and health. Smoke spread along the basement corridor, forcing four people to leave a sauna through the smoke. No one was injured, and firefighters brought the blaze under control.

After firefighters left, the man returned to the basement, set fire to the bicycle’s basket and left. Another person carried the burning bicycle outside and put out the fire. Police arrested the suspect later that month.

Earlier in the spring, he set fire to a wooden bicycle shelter in the same residential area, destroying part of the shelter and some items inside. Later, he set fire to paper in the letter slot of his own apartment, but put the fire out himself before it spread.

The district court’s ruling can be appealed.