Copenhagen, Denmark ( AP )- A day after the fire started, Danish firefighters were still at work erasing the last remnants of a 400-year-old structure in Copenhagen.
“This is terrible, but sad, ” said Mikkel Jensen, a 44-year-old civil servant, as he looked up at the twisted scaffolding still clinging to the ruins of the city ’s Old Stock Exchange.
The building, which dates from 1615 and is named the Boersen in Danish, is known for its green copper roof and distinctive 56-meter ( 184-foot ) spire in the shape of four intertwined dragon tails. Morten Langager, director of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, which was headquartered in the Old Stock Exchange and owned the building, said it does “rise afterwards. ”
On April 17, 2024, firefighters apply waters on the dust of the former Boersen stock exchange building in northern Copenhagen, Denmark. As police said an intensive research into the cause of the fire might past months, Danish firefighters battled for a next day to kill a blaze that gutted Copenhagen’s ancient original stock exchange. Half of the 17th-century Borsen building was burned and its 54-metre ( 180-foot ) spire tumbled to the ground in the fire that broke out on Tuesday morning, April 16, 2024, in scenes that shocked Denmark. Crisis services announced the incident was under control on Tuesday, but it continued to burn in the portion of the building that was undergoing renovations. ( Photo by Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP ) / Denmark OUT ( Photo by LISELOTTE SABROE/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images )
His manager, Chamber mind Brian Mikkelsen, said Tuesday that “no matter what, we will restore Boersen” and that the committee had backed the plan.
No decision has yet been made about who will reconstruct the building, a project which would cost millions, if not billions of kroner ( dollars ). It may take up to 10 years, according to a careful measure.
Many in Denmark compared Tuesday ´s fire to the April 2019 blaze at Notre Dame that destroyed the spire of the 800-year-old cathedral. Its repair is expected to be finished this year.
The extent of the damage, which was still being done by the lights and the tons of water that had been poured to stop them, was mysterious.
According to Tim Ole Simonsen of the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department, “a significant has disappeared in the fireplace.” The fact that the sturdy structure that was in place was destroyed threatens the balance of exterior surfaces. ”
CEO of Danish Business, Brian Mikkelsen ( L), and others carry historic paintings out of the burning building, as the Stock Exchange burns in Copenhagen on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A large fire tore through Copenhagen’s 17th-century original stock trade, toppling the ancient building’s landmark tower in front of horrified and mental witnesses. Amid flames and black smoke, the 54-metre ( 180-foot ) spire crashed into the street below the Borsen building, which had been undergoing renovation. ( Photo by Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP ) / Denmark OUT ( Photo by IDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images )
People carry traditional drawings out of the burning building, as the Stock Exchange fires in Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 16, 2024. A great flames tore through Copenhagen’s 17th-century original stock trade, toppling the ancient building’s landmark spire in front of horrified and personal witnesses. Amid flames and black smoke, the 54-metre ( 180-foot ) spire crashed into the street below the Borsen building, which had been undergoing renovation. ( Photo by Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP ) / Denmark OUT ( Photo by IDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images )
Up to 40 shipping containers, filled with concrete, will be put around the remaining outer walls to stabilize them, the fire department said.
According to Brian Belling, a Danish police officer in charge of the investigation, the building was unaccessible as of yet to begin looking into the cause of the fire. The roof is thought to have been the site of the fire that started on Tuesday morning during renovations.
Finding the cause of a fire can take a long time, Belling said.
On Tuesday, as the building burned to the ground, bystanders, Chamber of Commerce employees, police officers, and members of an army unit that had been dispatched to help the building flee inside.
In a “worst case ” scenario, Mikkelsen, one of the employees who ran in, claimed that the building had a strategy for what to save. According to him, firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were dispatched in when the first floor became too dangerous for people to ascend to, adding that many of the building’s most valuable items, including irreplaceable paintings and other works of art, had been saved.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, one of the items saved was a massive painting titled” From Copenhagen Stock Exchange,” which was completed in 1895 by Danish artist P. S. Krøyer.
‘ From Copenhagen Stock Exchange ’ 1895 by P. S. Krøyer / Public Domain Scan
The old Boersen Stock Exchange building in Copenhagen on January 28, 2019 before it caught fire ( top ) and the same building undergoing renovation work on April 16, 2024 are captured in this combination of images created on April 17, 2024. The building, one of the oldest in the Danish capital, was undergoing renovation work when in the morning of April 16, 2024 it caught fire, whose cause was yet unknown. King Christian IV built the structure as a commercial building in 1620, right next to the Danish parliament. ( Photo by LINDA KASTRUP and Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP ) / Denmark OUT ( Photo by LINDA KASTRUPIDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images )
An hour after the first reports, the fire rapidly engulfed the spire and sent it crashing onto the building, which was shrouded by scaffolding, and onto the street behind.
From southern Sweden, which is separated from the Danish capital by a narrow waterway, could be seen humming soaring billows of smoke rising over downtown Copenhagen. There were no reports of injuries at the scene, though ambulances were present.
Due to the strong smell of smoke in the buildings, employees were instructed to work from home ministries located in the street behind the Old Stock Exchange, which were closed on Wednesday. Before ministry staff can return, Rasmus Brandt Lassen, head of the Danish Building and Property Agency, said the buildings must be thoroughly cleaned, their ventilation systems must be checked, and perhaps replaced.
We have informed them that they should anticipate working from home the rest of the week, ” Brandt Lassen said.
In Denmark, the exchange is regarded as a shining example of the Dutch Renaissance style. After Copenhagen’s stock exchange closed in 1974, the Chamber of Commerce moved into the building.
One of the many top-notch churches and castles in Copenhagen, whose dragon spire, which is credited with giving it the nickname of” the city of spires, ” was was one of its many. ” Other copper-covered belfries include the serpentine spire of Our Savior´s Church, those of the Renaissance Rosenborg Castle downtown, and the tower of the Christiansborg Palace which houses the Danish parliament.
On Wednesday, a major thoroughfare past the Old Stock Exchange remained closed.
One day after a fire destroyed the historic Boersen Stock Exchange and its iconic spire in Copenhagen on April 17, 2024, a partial view shows the building’s historic structure. Amid flames and black smoke, the 54-metre ( 180-foot ) spire of Copenhagen’s 17th-century former stock exchange crashed into the street below the building on April 16, 2024 morning. ( Photo by Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP ) / Denmark OUT ( Photo by LISELOTTE SABROE/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images )
One day after a fire destroyed the historic Boersen Stock Exchange and its iconic spire in Copenhagen on April 17, 2024, a partial view shows the building’s historic structure. Amid flames and black smoke, the 54-metre ( 180-foot ) spire of Copenhagen’s 17th-century former stock exchange crashed into the street below the building on April 16, 2024 morning. ( Photo by Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP ) / Denmark OUT ( Photo by LISELOTTE SABROE/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images )
This photograph taken on April 17, 2024 shows the remains of the tower of the historic Boersen Stock Exchange on a street, a day after a fire ravaged the building, which was under renovation, and toppled its iconic spire in Copenhagen. Amid flames and black smoke, the 54-metre ( 180-foot ) spire of Copenhagen’s 17th-century former stock exchange crashed into the street below the building on April 16, 2024 morning. ( Photo by Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP ) / Denmark OUT ( Photo by LISELOTTE SABROE/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images )
