Potentially threatening fire destroys top floor sauna of Helsinki hotel

Guests evacuated from upper floors of 500-room hotel

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A fire broke out at the Scandic Continental Hotel in central Helsinki early on Tuesday morning. According to the Rescue Department, the potentially threatening fire was put out just before 7 a.m. "The blaze was swiftly contained by the firemen", explained fire chief Markku Ahola.
      According to the Helsinki Rescue Department, the fire broke out in the top floor sauna facilities. Among the rescue workers there were suspicions that the blaze might have been initiated by an electric sauna stove that had been left on unsupervised. To some extent the fire also spread into the hotel’s roof structures.
     
The hotel staff quickly evacuated a few dozen guests from the ninth floor rooms, but the guests have since been allowed to return to the building. In property manager Antti Peurala’s view, the evacuation went off smoothly.
      Swedish tourist Charlotte Berkvuist reported how she was woken up by the smell of smoke. She then alerted her two friends, and the three quickly exited the hotel.
      Berkvuist and her travel companions had arrived in Helsinki yesterday, and the night was the trio’s first in the Finnish capital.
     
The Fire Department was alerted of the fire at 6:28 this morning. The hotel officer on night duty became aware of the fire before the fire detectors, when he encountered smoke during his round.
      No injuries to persons due to the fire have been reported.
      The hotel building, in turn, sustained extensive fire damage, and at least the two top floors suffered from smoke damage. The fire doors remained shut during the incident.
     
According to hotel director Christer Kjäl, the hotel’s sauna department was destroyed, while at least 30 of the ninth-floor rooms sustained smoke damage. Furthermore, six of the top floor conference room’s windows were smashed.
      When interviewed earlier this morning, Kjäl was unable to estimate the cost of damage. Instead, he commended his staff for their rapid actions, which prevented the incident from escalating into a potential catastrophe.
      "I guess one could say that we were lucky, considering the size of the hotel", said Kjäl, who started as the director of the establishment only the day before yesterday.
      In the aftermath of the incident, water was cut off from 12 of the guest rooms. The guests of these rooms have been relocated elsewhere in the hotel.
      Possible crisis support has also been made available.
     
The fire impeded this morning’s commuter traffic in Central Helsinki, where some traffic restrictions were introduced in the vicinity of the hotel.
      Tram traffic was resumed shortly after 7 a.m, and both lanes of the Mannerheimintie main artery were reopened to traffic just before 8 o’clock.
     
The Scandic Continental, with 514 rooms and 9 suites, is an imposing building on Mannerheimintie, almost opposite Finlandia Hall. It was formerly known as the Inter-Continental and is one of the capital's largest hotels.
      The top-floor sauna in the main building (there are also two separate wings that have been added later) also features a pool area, with extensive views eastwards over Töölönlahti Bay.


Links:
  Scandic Hotels - Helsinki Continental

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