Fire destroys church maintenance building in Vantaa

A fire early Wednesday destroyed a wooden maintenance building belonging to a local parish in the historic Helsinki pitäjän kirkonkylä area of Vantaa, according to Central Uusimaa Rescue Services.

The blaze, reported at 1:15 a.m. on Pappilankuja, engulfed the roof of the over 200-square-metre storage building, which was used by the parish. Nearly 20 rescue units responded to contain the fire, which was prevented from spreading further.

Fire station officer Ville Vahala told Yle that the flames had reached the upper floor early in the incident, destroying the roof. He noted the risk of the fire spreading had been significant, but crews managed to keep it under control.

“I feared it might turn into an open fire and burn down to the foundation, but fortunately that didn’t happen,” Vahala said.

By dawn, cleanup and final extinguishing work were underway. The building’s roof had completely burned, and demolition of the structure was in progress. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.

The building stood in a culturally significant landscape near St. Lawrence Church, the oldest surviving building in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The church and its surroundings form part of one of the best-preserved historical church village environments in southern Finland.