Jana’s family in central Finland lost their home in a fire that raged with great force. The flames took everything with them.
On Thursday of last week, Finland was preparing for Saturday’s Eurovision final – including Jana Nyqvist-Pekkarinen, who lives in Kinnula, central Finland.
Nykvist-Pekkairen sat at home in her study Thursday evening and made neon green Karija sleeves for the dollhouse’s little inhabitant.
However, the mini-sized Bolero was never quite finished when work was suddenly interrupted by a creepy noise coming from outside.
It was an absolutely terrible explosion, says Nykvist-Pekkairen, as if a gas cylinder had exploded.
Nykvist-Pekkairen rushed to find out what it was all about. There was already smoke at the front door.
– I carefully opened the door and flames started coming out of the corner of the house. They started trying to enter through the door by scaling the wall.
Nyquist-Pekkarinen went into this study before the fire. Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
Nykvist-Pekkairen quickly closed the door and grabbed a wall-mounted foam extinguisher. Running to the other end of the house, she dialed the numbers for the emergency center on her cell phone.
When he reached the terrace, the sight there was horrifying.
– The flames were already licking the eaves between the roof and the roof wall. I told the emergency center that my foam fire extinguisher was no longer useful and I threw it on the ground. I told the phone to put the chick in the nest, now it is coming back.
Nykvist-Pekkairen knew that not much time was available.
She went back to her study and clutched the precious embroidery machine in her arms. However, it was too heavy, so they decided to salvage custom sheets instead.
As his final act, Nykvist-Pekkairen managed to get his two dogs out of the house. However, there was no time left for the family’s three cats.
– I had to choose. Either me or the cats, says Nykvist-Pekkairen.
This is what the house looked like when Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen climbed out from under it and ran into the neighboring yard. Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
Nothing could happen after this. The large wooden village school, built in the 1950s, was razed to the ground in an instant by a sea of fire.
It is a matter of honor that there was no loss of life due to the flames. Nykvist-Pekkairen was home alone at the time of the fire, while her husband and son were elsewhere in Finland on a work trip.
Rather all the property turned into ashes. A boy fond of tractors and cars had three cars and an excavator destroyed in a fire.
For Nykvist-Pekkairen, who works as a dolls house artist, the fire swallowed up her entire work history.
– I have sewing machines, seamstresses, an embroidery machine, woodworking tools and materials. They all got burnt.
Jana Nyqvist-Pekarinen’s life’s work was lost in the flames. In photo, puppet captain Lars Carlsson, created by Nykvist-Pekkairen, in Halochopping. Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
A car being repaired in the school gymnasium is melted back into shape. Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
Not to mention all the photos that instantly turned to smoke.
– Our family memories, all the pictures, were on the same hard drive that burned down with the house.
Nykvist-Pekkairen isn’t so much concerned about the house itself, but rather everything inside it.
The value of everything cannot be measured in money.
The raging fire has left behind a trail of devastation. Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
The family is now living temporarily with Nyqvist-Pekkarinen’s mother in Kinnula.
He has not yet dared to think of the past. Now there are many more things to take care of when the house is on fire that you need to be able to take care of.
You have to keep your head forward at all times. If I thought about everything we’ve lost, I’d collapse.
Luckily, the family has got a lot of help. The parish of Kinnula has set up a collection to help them, and friends and relatives have donated clothes.
Jana Nyqvist-Pekarinen’s house was already in flames when the rescue service arrived. Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
The future of the family is still completely shrouded in fog.
– We haven’t planned anything yet. Fortunately, spring and summer are just around the corner, so we have time to think about whether we’ll stay here, move somewhere else, build a new one, and so on.
There’s one thing Nykvist-Pekkairen would like to know amid the loss. Why did the fire start and why was it so strong?
He has not yet given any explanation for this, and the matter has not yet been investigated.
Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
Nykvist-Pekkairen says that 10-15 minutes before the explosion, he had put a cigarette on the roof where the fire started.
– I extinguished a cigarette in the ashtray and shook the ashes there. From what I’ve talked to with fire investigators, a 10-15 minute timeline is unlikely to produce such an explosive fire. But till the final investigation is done, I will not know the truth.
At the time of the fire, there was nothing flammable on the roof other than the contents of the grill’s gas cylinder.
However, after being found in ruins, the gas bottle was completely intact and its pressure valve functioned normally.
We don’t know what caused that early dawn, Nykvist-Pekkairen sighs.
Jana Nyqvist-Pekkarinen’s family lived in a large two-storey former village schoolhouse. Now only the stone foundation remains. Photo: Jana Nyquist-Pekkarinen
