Copenhagen's historic Boersen building goes into flames

Several streets in the center of Copenhagen were closed during rush hour this morning due to the heavy fire at Børsen.

The iconic spire has collapsed.

At 7.36am, the first message of the fire in the historic building came in. Emergency services and army are present on a large scale to keep everything under control.

The famous spire on top of the building collapsed.

Knippelsbro, Slotsholmgade and Børsgade are closed for traffic.

Fire fighters are working on the inside and outside of the building in order to control the fire, but due to its large scale this could take up the whole day.

The fire spread itself throughout the whole building by the elevator shaft, told FrankTrier Mikkelsen, manager of firefighting to TV2.

The brass roof of the building and scaffolds makes the extinguish more complicated.

Fight to save historic paintings

Big plumes of smoke are coming out of the building, therefore other buildings in the neighborhood are asked to keep windows closed and surrounding buildings are evacuated as well.

The whole day, a northern wind is predicted, which means that most of the smoke will go in the direction of the port, not to centre of the city told TV2.

According to Ritzau, all the people inside the building were evacuated, including some of the valuable objects.

Among the saved paintings, is the historical ‘From the Copenhagen Stock Exchange’ by PS Krøyer.

The saved paintings are transferred into Christiansborg, the Danish parliament.

400 years of history into flames

The building, owned by Dansk Erhverv (Danish Commerce, ed.), is protected for its cultural and historical value. It was under construction by AP Møller Foundation to reform it back to its original look after a renovation mistake in the 19th century.

It’s one of the oldest buildings in Copenhagen, build under the reign of King Christian IV around 1625.

Many citiznes of Copenhagen are in awe and express great sadness to the fire which ruins one of the city’s hallmarks.

The cause of the fire is yet unknown, says Jakob Vedsted Andersen, director of emergencies of the urgent care department of the city to TV2