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Arson suspected at Berlin refugee home blaze

A fire broke out at refugee accommodations made of shipping containers in a district in the far north of the capital early on Monday morning.

Published: 8 August 2016 17:49 CEST
Arson suspected at Berlin refugee home blaze
Photo: DPA

Police are investigating a case of suspected premeditated arson after the fire in Buch in northern Berlin which was reported to emergency services shortly after 3am on Monday.

Six residents of the home suffered light injuries as a result of smoke inhalation and had to be treated by paramedics at the scene, according to police.

The fire broke out in a shipping container in which refugees were housed on the first floor of the building. It then spread to the second and third floors.

The 185 resident of the home have been rehoused in a sports hall in Pankow, Tagesspiegel reports.

Arson attacks on refugee homes greatly increased in 2015, with the Interior Ministry describing them as part of an explosion in the rate of extremist violence.

But in one arson case in Düsseldorf in June, eight residents of the home were arrested on suspicion of starting the fire in a fight over Ramadan meal times.

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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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