Jyväskylä fire survivor fled through smoke-filled stairwell

A resident escaped through a smoke-filled stairwell after a fatal fire broke out in an apartment building in central Jyväskylä on Tuesday evening, Yle reports. Police suspect a woman in her 30s who lived in the apartment where the fire started deliberately set it.

A man around 30 died in the fire. Police suspect he fled into the stairwell and died as a result of the blaze. The fire was confined to an apartment on the building’s first floor, but smoke filled the stairwell.

Eetu Hakala, who lives next door to the apartment where the fire began, was at home but did not hear the alarm because he was listening to music. He saw the flames and smoke by chance as he was about to leave with a friend.

Hakala said he knew people should not enter a smoke-filled stairwell during a fire, but went out anyway. “I thought this might be the last moment I’d be alive,” he said.

The building’s 48 studio and one-bedroom apartments are all out of use. The stairwells and structures suffered fire and smoke damage, and the building has no electricity. The property manager and insurer are assessing the damage, but it is not yet possible to estimate when repairs will be completed or residents can return.

The Finnish Red Cross has arranged emergency accommodation for some residents, while most have found temporary places to stay themselves. Hakala is staying with a friend. His belongings, including his passport, remain in his apartment, which residents cannot currently access.

Police are investigating the fire as aggravated criminal damage and aggravated negligent homicide.