After an intense effort at the historic building Børsen in Copenhagen, the Capital Region of Denmark Rescue Service has now withdrawn their forces from the fire site. This comes after several days of fighting a fire that threatened one of the capital’s most iconic buildings. Duty officer Kristian Levy from the Capital Region of Denmark Rescue Service explains that although the fire is under control, there is still uncertainty about any embers that may flare up again. “We cannot guarantee that there is no more fire. But we cannot go any deeper now. It will be some time before we can say for sure that the fire is completely extinguished,” he told Ritzau.
The decision to withdraw the emergency services is also taken to make room for the staff who will work on preserving the building’s facade. “Our work conflicts a little with preserving the facade. There we have to step back a bit,” Levy explains. Normally, in the case of a fire in an ordinary building in Copenhagen, the emergency services would choose to demolish the building to ensure that all potential pockets of fire were eliminated. However, due to Børsen’s historical value, this is not an option. “We cannot tear down the facade of such a historically important building as Børsen to be sure that what’s underneath is extinguished,” says Levy.
The fire brigade will continue to be present with a guard every four hours overnight to ensure that the fire does not further develop. “It is clear that if we were very concerned about it, we would have personnel present. We believe with good certainty that we can leave the site now. It has looked very good all day,” Levy concludes.