Copenhagen fights the last pockets of a fire that destroyed a 400-year-old landmark

Emergency management work in the former Stock Exchange of Copenhagen, Boersen, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish firefighters were still at work extinguishing the last pockets of a fire that destroyed a 400-year-old Copenhagen landmark a day after the blaze began.

“This is sad, so 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.

Morten Langager, manager of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, which was headquartered in the Old Stock Exchange and owned the building, said the building, built in 1615 and known for its green copper roof and distinctive 56-meter (184-foot) spire in the shape of four intertwined dragon tails, should “rise again.”

Emergency management work to secure the area after a fire in the former Stock Exchange of Copenhagen, Boersen, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

His boss, Chamber head Brian Mikkelsen, said Tuesday that “no matter what, we will rebuild Boersen” and that the board had backed the idea.

No decision has yet been made about who will reconstruct the building, which would cost millions, if not billions of kroner (dollars). A cautious estimate said it could take up to 10 years.

Emergency management work in the former Stock Exchange of Copenhagen, Boersen, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Many in Denmark compared Tuesday’s fire to the April 2019 blaze at Notre Dame that destroyed the 800-year-old cathedral’s spire. Its restoration is slated for completion this year.

The extent of the damage, caused by flames and the tons of water poured to extinguish them, was still unknown.

“A lot has disappeared in the fire,” Tim Ole Simonsen of the Greater Copenhagen Fire Department said of the building. “The stability of external walls is threatened by the fact that the wooden structure that was holding them is gone.”

Up to 40 shipping containers, filled with concrete, will be put around the remaining outer walls to stabilize it, the fire department said.

Emergency management work to finish extinguishing the fire and to secure the area in the building of the former Stock Exchange of Copenhagen, Boersen, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Police hadn’t yet been able to enter the building to begin investigating the cause of the fire, said Brian Belling, a Copenhagen police officer in charge of the investigation. The blaze is believed to have started on the building’s roof during renovations on Tuesday morning.

Firefighters work on the building after a fire broke out at the Stock Exchange in Copenhagen, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The fire was reported Tuesday morning in the historic building, which was undergoing renovation. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix)

“It can take a long time to find the cause of a fire,” Belling said.

When the fire engulfed the building on Tuesday, passers-by, Chamber of Commerce staff, police officers and members of an army unit that had been sent to help raced inside the building to save its treasures.

Firefighters work on the building after a fire broke out at the Stock Exchange in Copenhagen, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The fire was reported Tuesday morning in the historic building, which was undergoing renovation. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix)

Mikkelsen, who was one of the employees who ran in, told public broadcaster DR that the building had made a plan for what to save in a “worst case” scenario. When it was too dangerous for people to go up to the first floor, firefighters with breathing gear were sent in to retrieve priceless items, he said, adding that many of the building’s most valuable contents, which included priceless paintings and other works of art, had been saved.

Fire rages from the dragon spire of the Stock Exchange in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

The Chamber of Commerce said that among the saved items was a huge painting titled, “From Copenhagen Stock Exchange,” completed in 1895 by Danish artist P.S. Krøyer.

An hour after the first reports of fire, it rapidly engulfed the spire and sent it crashing onto the building, which was shrouded by scaffolding, and onto the street behind.

Huge billows of smoke rose over downtown Copenhagen and could be seen from southern Sweden, which is separated from the Danish capital by a narrow waterway. Ambulances were at the scene but there were no reports of casualties.

Fire rages from the dragon spire of the Stock Exchange in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Smoke damage closed ministries located in the street behind the Old Stock Exchange, which remained shut Wednesday as employees were told to work from home because of a strong smell of smoke in the buildings. The buildings must be thoroughly cleaned and their ventilation systems must be checked and perhaps replaced before ministry staff can return, said Rasmus Brandt Lassen, head of the Danish Building and Property Agency.

“We have told them that they should expect to work at home for the rest of the week,” Brandt Lassen said,

Former Danish Minister of Culture and current CEO of Danish Business, Brian Mikkelsen, left, assists with the evacuation of paintings from the Boersen burning in Copenhagen on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

The exchange is considered a leading example of the Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark. The Chamber of Commerce moved into the building after Copenhagen’s stock exchange left in 1974.

Its dragon spire was one of the many of topping the city’s churches and castles, which have earned Copenhagen its nickname as “the city of spires.” Others copper-covered belfries include the serpentine spire of Our Saviour’s Church, those of the downtown Renaissance Rosenborg Castle, and the tower of the Christiansborg Palace which houses the Danish parliament.

People react to a fire as the Old Stock Exchange building burns in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

A main road running past the Old Stock Exchange remained closed Wednesday.

Firefighters work as smoke rise out of the Old Stock Exchange, Boersen, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. One of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings is on fire and its iconic spire has collapsed. The building, which is situated next to the Christiansborg Palace where the parliament sits, is a popular tourist attraction. Its distinctive spire, in the shape of the tails of four dragons twined together, reached a height of 56 meters (184 feet). (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

The spire collapses as fire and smoke rise out of the Old Stock Exchange, Boersen, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. One of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings is on fire and its iconic spire has collapsed. The building, which is situated next to the Christiansborg Palace where the parliament sits, is a popular tourist attraction. Its distinctive spire, in the shape of the tails of four dragons twined together, reached a height of 56 meters (184 feet). (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Fire and smoke rise out of the Old Stock Exchange, Boersen, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. One of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings is on fire and its iconic spire has collapsed. The copper roof of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange, or Boersen, that was once Denmark’s financial center, was engulfed in flames Tuesday. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

People ride bicycles as smoke rises from the Old Stock Exchange in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Emil Nicolai Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

CEO of Danish Business, Brian Mikkelsen, and others carry paintings out of the burning building as the Stock Exchange burns in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. A fire raged through one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings on Tuesday, causing the collapse of the iconic spire of the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange as passersby rushed to help emergency services save priceless paintings and other valuables. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)