An apartment building burned down in Kalasatama on Saturday.
A large fire broke out in Helsinki’s Kalasatama on Saturday evening. This is what it looked like on site the next day. Eastern Wilderness
A fire broke out in an apartment building in Helsinki’s Kalasatama on Saturday evening. The fire started on the balcony of the fourth floor and spread to the roof structures of the apartment building in about a quarter of an hour.
Wellness coach Kata Kämäräinen lives in the adjacent crab from where the fire started. So Kämäräinen did not live in the burned Lumo apartments, but the apartment he owns has still been damaged.
Kämäräinen describes the apartment as uninhabitable. He is currently in evacuation.
– My apartment and my stairs have not burned down, but they have been badly damaged by the extinguishing water, Kämäräinen tells Iltalehte by phone.
Kämäräinen himself was in Tampere on Saturday, spending the weekend. On Sunday, he got permission to visit the home and save the things.
So far, Kämäräinen has no information on whether he will be able to return home.
– It’s sad to say, but residents have been very poorly informed. No information of any kind has been received yet, says Kämäräinen.
– A big renovation is coming. There’s hardly any time to go home, he thinks.
More specifically, Kämäräinen does not comment on what kind of destruction there was in the apartment. However, the situation was better than he expected.
– A good situation compared to that, but you can see that there is moisture damage. But let’s say that it’s a happy situation in the sense that not all the property is gone, that I have all my dear and important objects, says Kämäräinen.
Kata Kämäräinen had to be evacuated from her apartment. ATTE KAJOVA
Hannu Voutilainen: moving ahead
The bassist of the band Turmio Kätilöt Hannu Voutilainen, whose stage name is Master Bates, previously said on social media that his family lives in the same apartment building where the fire broke out. To Iltalehte, Voutilainen commented on Saturday that he got to safety.
A couple of days after the fire, Voutilainen tells Iltalehti by phone that he is going to see a new apartment.
– Probably in an hour there will already be names on the paper, Voutilainen states.
Things have been taken care of with the insurance company as well. Unlike Kämäräinen, Voutilainen states that the information was good.
– Everything is pretty good.
Voutilainen’s apartment is directly below the balcony of the apartment where the fire started.
– We got all the water in. Everything got soaking wet and there were still fumes, so yes, everything there is pretty much the same as before, says Voutilainen.
– This week we will find out what can be saved and what goes directly to the landfill.
Voutilainen describes being inside with the doors and windows closed for half an hour.
– It was a bit of a heated situation, but then the men from the rescue service came knocking on the door and got us out and everything went well.
The house of Master Bates, or Hannu Voutilainen, burned down in Kalasatama. Picture from 2024. Marc Sabat