A 30-year-old man died in a fire in Jyväskylä last week after he tried to get out of the burning building through the stairwell. His death is one of seven stairwell fire fatalities in Finland this year, Yle reported.
The stairwell of the burned apartment block in Jyväskylä is a bleak sight. The walls have been cleaned, but their charred black upper sections show what conditions were like during the fire. Riku Lehtinen, readiness chief at the Central Finland Rescue Department, said the chances of surviving in the stairwell of a burning building are poor.
"It's dark, there's smoke and toxic fire gases, and the temperature can be 500 to 1,000 degrees. In the worst case, a single breath can knock you out," Lehtinen said.
Normally there is one stairwell fatality or none at all in a year. Three fires have led to stairwell deaths in 2025, and the high toll is explained by a fire in Pähkinärinne in Vantaa in March, where five members of the same family died. If there is smoke in the stairwell but your own apartment is not on fire, the safest option is to close the door, call the emergency number and wait for the rescue service.
Ilpo Leino, senior expert at the Finnish National Rescue Association, sees several reasons why people still leave their apartments. The first is a lack of knowledge. Housing companies are obliged to draw up a rescue plan and tell residents about it, but many leave the instructions unread, and in an emergency the advice may be forgotten.
"As crazy as it feels, even if the neighbour next door, above or below is on fire, the best protection is your own apartment," Leino said. He said most stairwell deaths could have been avoided. "If your own apartment is smoke-free and people had stayed there, they would have been saved."
Sara Rintamo, legal expert at the Property Management Association, said rescue walks are held only occasionally and rarely interest residents. "In my own housing company a rescue walk was organised, and two people took part," she said. Lehtinen said automatic door closers on apartment doors would be a good addition.
"That would the fire stays in the apartment and doesn't spread to the stairwell. It would give time and opportunities for a safe exit," he said.