Police suspect negligence after two Kouvola apartment fires

Police suspect that human activity caused a fire in the garages of an apartment building on Sakaristontie in Kouvola on Monday, Yle reports. The fire destroyed two garages and two cars.

Police are investigating the case as aggravated negligence causing general danger. Criminal inspector Nina Hietanen of the Southeast Finland Police Department said the fire currently appeared to have resulted from carelessness rather than an intentional act.

Investigators are examining the exact nature of the negligence. Police have spoken to residents, but no one has been arrested. The person injured in Monday’s fire was a resident of the building and has also been interviewed by police.

A second fire broke out in the attic of the same building about a day later. Hietanen said it appeared likely that the fire started from a smouldering hotspot left behind by the earlier blaze.

Residents had to be evacuated twice because of the fires, and 23 people needed temporary accommodation. The investigation is still under way.