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FIRE

Fire halts train traffic at Stockholm Central

A fire on board an SJ X2000 train put a halt to all train traffic to and from the central station in Stockholm as poisonous fumes spread across sections of the city centre.

Published: 18 November 2012 15:39 CET
Fire halts train traffic at Stockholm Central

Emergency services were alerted at 1.40 pm on Sunday. The station was evacuated and shut down. All trains travelling to and from the central station had to stop and turn around.

The train was parked at a platform and there were no people on board.

A person who works for Swedish national rail operator SJ told the Aftonbladet newspaper that the train was about to be cleaned when the fire erupted.

After the fire broke out, there was a temporary power failure between the Stockholm South and Solna stations.

According to the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket), the breaks on the X2000 train were faulty, which lead to smoke formation and a full-fledged fire then broke out, spreading across two carriages.

The police later speculated that a short-circuit could have sparked the fire.

However, the Greater Stockholm Fire Brigade (Stockholms brandförsvar) said an inquiry would need to establish the precise causes of the fire and to assess how severe the damages are.

By 2.30pm, the fire was under control. Traffic resumed by 3pm, but with severe delays expected for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

TT/The Local/nr

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FIRE

Why have there been so many fires in Copenhagen this year?

Thursday’s fire at Denmark’s tax ministry follows a blaze at the historic Old Stock Exchange and several fires at the headquarters of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

Published: 27 June 2024 15:11 CEST
Why have there been so many fires in Copenhagen this year?

A fire broke out on Thursday morning on the roof of the building which houses Denmark’s Tax Ministry in central Copenhagen, which fire services in the capital were able to put out shortly afterwards.

The Tax Ministry fire is at least the fifth high-profile blaze in and around Copenhagen since April, following three at different buildings owned by pharma giant Novo Nordisk and the devastating fire which turned parts of the historic Old Stock Exchange (Børsen) to rubble.

The high number of fires occurring within a relatively short period appears to be down to no more than chance, Jens Kastvig, an expert with the Danish Society of Engineers said to newswire Ritzau.

“There’s always a risk that a fire can break out in a building,” Kastvig said, noting that the average annual fire rate is around one per 100,000 to 150,000 square metre of building.

“That could be anything from a smaller to a larger fire,” he said.

Kastvig said that he initially guessed the Tax Ministry fire was the result of renovation work.

Both Børsen and the Novo Nordisk buldings were also undergoing renovations at the time of their fires. This increases the risk of fire breaking out in a more flammable material such as bitumen waterproofing, or a fire otherwise related to the ongoing work.

No renovations were ongoing at the Tax Ministry however, the building’s owner ATP Ejendomme has confirmed.

“The fire services are busy at the moment. But I hope it’s a coincidence,” Kastvig said.

Tim Ole Sørensen of the Copenhagen Fire Service, Hovedstadens Beredskab, said on Thursday that there was no suggestion that the fires were related.

“There’s nothing that indicates any form of connection at all to us, and we are talking about very different businesses and types of building,” he said.

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