Fire Engulfs Industrial Building In Hafnarfjörður

A major cloud of smoke was visible from the capital area, Sunday, August 20, as a fire broke out in an industrial building by Hvaleyrarbraut in Hafnarfjörður.

The capital region‘s fire department finished its efforts well into Monday morning, having extinguished the fire around 04:30 after midnight.

Chief of fire department Birgir Finnsson said that 17 people lived in the house, RÚV reports.

Despite not being zoned for residential use, many industrial buildings in the capital area are inhabited, Birgir stated. In an effort to crack down on unsafe housing, the fire department keeps a list of buildings that need safety monitoring.

According to firefighters, fire safety was unfulfilled, No information was available on the number of residents in the building.

Hafnarfjörður‘s building inspector, Hildur Bjarnadóttir, stated that authorities had closed down a part of the building‘s residential area a few years ago.